An Unlikely Hero
by Andy'sGirl4485
Summary: When Hermione is trapped in a hostile situation an unlikely hero is waiting in the wings.
1. Chapter 1

**Harry Potter and all of its settings and characters belong to JK Rowling.**

 **Goodness it's been an incredibly long time. I thought I was out for sure but then recently this scene appeared and would not stop circling my brain. I don't know exactly where I'm going with this but as with all my stories I promise a happy ending.**

XXX

Hermione Granger was lost in thought. As she made her rounds of the castle checking for students out of bed her mind was occupied with quite a number of things. Some were pleasant, some not so much, but none had anything whatsoever to do with her current task. If her mind had been actively engaged in her immediate surroundings it would not have been possible for the dark figures concealing themselves in the shadows of the empty corridor to overtake her. No matter that there were four of them. As it was, she didn't even realize she was in trouble until her wand was already flying from her grasp.

Her mind snapped quickly into focus as she watched it sail into the hand of one Theodore Nott. Movement caught her eye and she turned to find herself surrounded at all four corners by Slytherins. Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabbini all stood with nearly identical looks of smug anticipation on their faces.

She tamped down the tendril of dread that tried to unfurl in her stomach and glared at Nott.

"Attacking the Head Girl in the corridors is not going to go over well. As it stands you've done nothing but break curfew and annoy me. Hand over my wand and get back to your dorms before you do something stupid."

"You hear that, lads?" Nott sneered as he tucked her wand into his robes, "The mudblood thinks she can order us about."

She could tell from the slight slurring of his words that he'd been drinking and the dread started to seep past her restraints. Being alone in the dungeons with hostile Slytherins was one thing, being alone in the dungeons with hostile Slytherins who were riding a high of drunken bravado was an entirely different matter.

"I really don't think you're in any position to be giving orders," he continued, his voice edged with menace, "In fact, the only orders that will be followed tonight are mine." He nodded over her shoulder and she was suddenly grabbed roughly from behind. Arms that felt like steel bands pinned her arms to her sides and hauled her up onto her toes.

Her self defense tactics were instinctive and her attacker barely had time to take a breath before she slammed the back of her heel into his knee and then went limp in his arms. He dropped her with a howl of pain and she quickly leaped to her feet and ran. She made it a total of three steps before her arm was wrenched backward and her body took a sharp turn, slamming her face first into the stone wall. Pain exploded across her cheek and she tasted blood as she rebounded off the wall and fell in a crumpled heap on the floor. She heard snickering above her and she scrambled away, trying to get her feet under her.

They were suddenly everywhere, arms snaking around her middle, fingers digging into her hair and yanking her up, hands shackling her wrists to keep her from striking out. Nott wrapped one hand around her neck and tilted her face up to his. The look he gave her sent an icy ball of fear shooting through her chest.

"Tonight you're going to learn your place, Mudblood."

Anger pulsed hot and mixed with pride to melt her fear. They were going to hurt her whether she cowered and begged or spit and fought so she'd be damned if she let them see her shaking. Her glare was Nott's only warning before she slammed her forehead into his face. She felt a surge of satisfaction as he jumped back with a yelp and blood started running from his clearly broken nose. Ignoring the hands that bit painfully into her skin, she laughed derisively.

"My place is so far above your head you'd need a ladder to kiss my ass, Nott."

Rage distorted his features and she had an instant to brace herself before the back of his hand connected with her cheek and her head whipped to the side. Little spots of light danced in front of her eyes and she struggled to clear her vision.

"Your place is on your knees putting that mouth of yours to good use," he snarled as he regained his grip on her neck, "but I think I'll take some time to fuck the bite out of you first."

"No," an icy voice came from the darkness and she felt all four of her attackers go still, "I really don't think you will."

Draco Malfoy emerged from the shadows and Nott was suddenly flying away from her. Hermione had just enough time to see his look of shock before he slammed into the wall. A small gasp of pain escaped her as she fell to the floor and it took her a moment to realize it was because the hands holding her up were gone. She looked around and saw that Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabbini were all slumped awkwardly against the opposite wall. Menace seemed to be seeping from Malfoy's pores and the group surrounding her had suddenly gone from terrifying to terrified. Hermione was too shocked to do anything but sit on the floor and stare.

"Did I not make myself perfectly clear on this matter?" The steel threaded through Malfoy's voice highlighted the danger lurking under the surface of that question. "I have claimed Granger as my reward for my marking ceremony. _I_ will teach her her place. _I_ will bend her to my will until she acknowledges _me_ as her master. She is _mine._ " The growl that accompanied that last word broke through her shock and had her scrambling backward as she realized she was still very much in danger. She jumped to her feet and a wave of dizziness sent her straight back down. She braced herself for more pain as the ground rushed up to meet her but it was pain that never came. A cushioning charm broke her fall and eased her softy to the floor. She shook her addled head, fighting to stay conscious, and looked for the source of the charm. None of the Slytherins seemed to be paying her any attention at all but she saw that Malfoy's wand was pointed casually in her direction. He didn't take his eyes off of her attackers as he continued his speech.

"Do you need a reminder of what I do to people who touch what is mine?" He raised his hand and Nott rose from the floor, scratching at an invisible force that was wrapped around his neck. Malfoy's hand clenched and Nott's face turned first red, then purple as he clearly fought for breath. It wasn't until his struggles started to slow that he fell back to the ground with a sickening crunch. Malfoy glared at the trembling pile that was Theodore Nott before turning his attention to the other three.

"Get him out of my sight before I remember that your hands were also quite full of what is mine." Crabbe and Goyle immediately rushed to obey, each grabbing one arm of their fallen accomplice and helping him hobble down the hallway. Zabbini, who she could now see was the one she'd gotten with her kick, limped along behind them.

As soon as they were out of sight Malfoy turned his gaze to her and she froze in the instinctual reaction of prey in the presence of a predator.

XXX

Draco Malfoy had never felt anything like the murderous rage that overtook him when he rounded the corner and saw Hermione with her face bruised, bloody, and full of fear. When Nott wrapped his hand around her throat and told her she needed to learn her place he thought the violence of it would explode from his chest. Everything in him focused to one single purpose. They were all going to _die._

He saw the change come over her face and fire spit from her eyes a split second before she slammed her head into Nott's nose.

"My place is so far above your head you'd need a ladder to kiss my ass, Nott."

This magnificently Gryffindor show of courage managed two things that pleased him. One, it broke Nott's nose, and two, it showed him that she was all right. Some semblance of rational thought made its way through the urge to dismember her attackers and allowed him to proceed with logic. Killing them was still definitely part of the plan, but it would have to wait for a more appropriate time. One that wouldn't jeopardize the cover he'd spent the last four years of his life building. For now he would have to be satisfied with reminding them, painfully, of his claim. For once in his life he was happy for his family's reputation, as it allowed him to protect her. Malfoys did _not_ share.

He started towards them just in time to see Nott strike her and the rage came flooding back, drowning out logic and planning and leaving nothing but the need to end them.

"Your place is on your knees putting that mouth of yours to good use, but I think I'll take some time to fuck the bite out of you first."

 _Now._

"No, I really don't think you will." He was surprised he could even speak around the lump of hatred burning in his throat. He let his magic burst from him and sent it seeking those who had dared to harm her. They were flung against the walls with a satisfying crunch and he lifted his wand to pull them back so he could do it again, and again until their blood stained the walls and their wretched souls departed this world.

He went still at the small sound of pain that came from Hermione as she fell to the ground.

Realizing that his lack of control had caused her more pain was enough to clear the red haze of bloodlust clouding his brain and allow him to think again.

He would _not_ murder these fools in front of her.

He would stick to the plan.

"Did I not make myself perfectly clear on this matter?" He pushed menace into his voice and let them see the rage still pulsing through him. "I have claimed Granger as my reward for my marking ceremony. _I_ will teach her her place. _I_ will bend her to my will until she acknowledges _me_ as her master. She is _mine._ "

He saw Hermione scramble away from him out of the corner of his eye and forced himself not to react. He did not look at her but when she failed in her attempt to gain her feet he silently sent a cushioning charm to break her fall. Never again would he fail to protect her. Even if doing so made her see him as the monster.

"Do you need a reminder of what I do to people who touch what is mine?" He thought of Nott's hand around her neck and he sent out his magic to retaliate. It was so tempting to just keep squeezing until the life drained out of him but he forced himself to let go and Nott dropped to the ground in a heap. The terror he saw in the eyes of Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabbini assured him that no one would ever again lay a finger on the girl in front of them.

"Get him out of my sight before I remember that your hands were also quite full of what is mine."

As they scrambled to obey he forced himself to keep his gaze away from Hermione until they were out of sight. When he finally turned to look at her he saw her go still, as if expecting him to pounce. An internal debate was raging in him. He knew what he _should_ do. What he _should_ do is heal her, Obliviate her and send her back to her room. It was the only way to proceed with his cover in tact and the lot of them not being hauled off to Azkaban.

What he wanted to do was take away the fear in her eyes.

He cursed under his breath and started towards her.

XXX


	2. Chapter 2

**Harry Potter and all of its settings and characters belong to JK Rowling.**

 **Author's note: Good news! I know where we're going! I'm still not entirely clear how we're going to get there but the end game manifested itself and with it came a number of shocking plot developments I'm rather excited about.**

XXX

Hermione watched Malfoy approaching and made one last attempt at escape. This time when her concussed head swam and her legs gave way she heard him cast the cushioning charm. She only had a moment to ponder the implications of that before the drowsiness she'd been fighting since Nott struck her finally pulled her under.

She was unconscious before she even hit the charm.

XXX

Draco watched her body go limp mid fall and knew that she'd passed out. He rushed to her side and cast a diagnostic spell, confirming his suspicion that she had a concussion. He cursed again and gathered her in his arms before heading further down into the dungeons. A brain injury was beyond his healing ability. He was going to need some help. Some snarky, irritable, sarcastic help. His godfather was not going to be pleased.

XXX

Severus Snape stalked toward the incessant pounding that had ripped him from sleep and vowed to inflict a painful death on the perpetrator, but when he flung open the door his snarl died in his throat. Draco stood on the other side with a bruised, bloody and unconscious Hermione Granger in his arms. Fury was coming off of him in waves. Snape quickly motioned them in and Draco swept by him to lay the girl on the couch.

"She has a concussion, which is beyond my healing abilities and I can't wake her." Draco stepped back slightly but didn't take his eyes off of Hermione.

"How did she-"

"Fix her first, question me second." Draco snapped and Snape narrowed his eyes at the tone. The boy pulled his gaze from Hermione and looked up at him for the first time since entering the room. The tortured look in his eyes was staggering. "Please," he continued and there was a wealth of desperation under the anger in his voice, "I'm clinging to my sanity by my fingernails and the sight of her looking so broken is not helping."

Snape nodded and knelt by Hermione, assessing the damage and healing the concussion but being careful not to wake her before moving on to the injuries on her face, arms, and neck. Quite a few of her bruises looked suspiciously like fingerprints and he began to share Draco's anger.

"She's fine now," he assured him and saw the line of tension across his shoulders ease, "Just sleeping." He gestured Draco away from the couch, "Now tell me what happened."

"Nott." Draco practically spat the name, "I came around the corner to see her being held by Crabbe, Goyle and Zabbini. Then Nott struck her and informed her of his plan to violently rape her in the name of teaching her her place."

Snape went still. "Is he still alive?"

"He's breathing. He has a few broken ribs, a snapped ankle and some fairly major bruising around his neck." Describing Nott's injuries seemed to lighten Draco's mood considerably.

"Darth Vader?" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Seemed fitting." Draco replied, "Oh, and a broken nose, but Hermione did that." His lips pulled sideways in an expression halfway between a smirk and a grimace, "Pinned in place by four hostile wizards and what does she do? She head butts him. Right before telling him, and I quote, 'My place is so far above your head you'd need a ladder to kiss my ass.'"

Snape couldn't contain his chuckle.

XXX

Draco's last bit of residual anger and tension eased at the sound of his godfather's laughter.

Then Snape's face clouded.

"What about your cover? Please tell me you didn't blindly charge in to rescue her without thinking of the consequences."

Draco scowled, "Yes, Severus, I'm completely stupid." He decided to keep to himself the fact that he had almost done exactly that. "My cover is in tact. I simply reminded them of my claim in a way that will assure it never happens again."

"And did Miss Granger hear your plans to take her as your captive?" The eyebrow Snape raised was just as effective as the tone he used to convey the trouble he thought that to be.

Draco threw his hands up. "You can't have it both ways. Either I blow my cover by murdering the lot of them, or I play the part I've created. It's better for her to think I'm a monster than for her to be in danger."

Snape nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes, but now you either have to Obliviate her, or trust her with your secret."

"If it's all the same to you," Hermione's voice broke in from across the room, "I'd really rather not be Obliviated."

XXX

Hermione woke from a very strange dream and fell straight into an even stranger conversation.

In the dream Draco Malfoy had been holding her in his arms and alternately swearing at and pleading with her. _"Goddamnit Hermione, wake up! Please. Please wake up. Open those beautiful, maddening eyes and curse me, spit in my face, break my nose like you did Nott's, I don't care. Just wake up!"_

In the conversation Severus Snape had just said something about Darth Vader and Malfoy had replied that it seemed fitting. Maybe she was still dreaming. That would be the logical explanation as she rated Snape and Malfoy sitting around watching Star Wars on the same scale of insanity as Malfoy cradling her to his chest and calling any part of her beautiful.

The events of the night started to filter through the haze of her thoughts, including an image of Theodore Nott held suspended in the air by an invisible force at his throat while Malfoy stood across the room with his hand raised and slowly clenching.

Clarity shattered over her mind and she realized she was neither dreaming nor insane. Draco Malfoy had, in fact, resembled Darth Vader, right after he'd claimed his intent to become a Death Eater and make her his slave, but before he'd saved her from further pain and carried her here to be healed.

Snape's laugh pulled her from her conflicting thoughts and she forced herself to relax and maintain her feigned sleep.

"What about your cover?" she heard Snape ask, "Please tell me you didn't blindly charge in to rescue her without thinking of the consequences."

 _Cover?_

"Yes, Severus, I'm completely stupid." She could hear the scowl on Malfoy's face. "My cover is in tact. I simply reminded them of my claim in a way that will assure it never happens again."

"And did Miss Granger hear your plans to take her as your captive?"

 _Oh, yes,_ she thought with a barely contained shiver, _I heard that quite clearly._

"You can't have it both ways. Either I blow my cover by murdering the lot of them, or I play the part I've created. It's better for her to think I'm a monster than for her to be in danger."

That brought her up short. _Play the part?_ Her head began to spin with the massive implications of that tiny phrase. It was impossible. Absolutely and completely insane. _No one is that good._ The spinning stopped abruptly as she realized that someone _was_ that good. And that someone happened to be his godfather. Professor Snape had been playing a part for the better part of two decades. It wasn't such a big leap to think he could have helped Malfoy pull off a similar feat. That bit of clarity only brought more questions. _How long has this been going on? And since when is my safety a top priority of Draco Malfoy?_

"Yes, but now you either have to Obliviate her, or trust her with your secret."

At the word 'Obliviate' she decided she'd better do something to regain some sort of control of this mad situation and gave up feigning sleep.

"If it's all the same to you," she said with a facade of calm that she was quite proud of as she got to her feet, "I'd really rather not be Obliviated."

Two sets of eyes locked on her and as she studied them, the light and the dark, it struck her that they were the same. They reacted to the surprise identically, which was to say barely at all, and then were completely shuttered before she could draw her next breath. Sweet Merlin, it was true. Draco Malfoy had been fooling them all.

Both men turned back to each other and shared a look that seemed to convey a wealth of information that she could not discern.

Malfoy's shoulders slumped and he suddenly looked incredibly tired. "I don't think I can bring myself to-"

"I'll take care of it." Snape cut in, "Get some sleep, we'll discuss this further in the morning."

"Hello?" Hermione waved her hand to get their attention, "Still here. Still waiting for some sort of explanation."

Malfoy turned to her and the look in his eyes seemed to burn its way into her soul. She felt trapped by it and as he moved towards her she stood rooted in place, unable to break the strange tension that suddenly bound them. When he finally stopped he was both too close and somehow not close enough for her rioting emotions and when he raised his hand as if to reach for her she found herself unwilling to stop him. She stopped breathing, caught in his gaze and reeling from the surge of longing that seemed to pour from his eyes. When his fingers brushed against her cheek she felt something inside her snap into place with an almost audible click.

"I _will_ keep you safe." His words were so soft she couldn't tell if he was speaking to her or to himself but she believed him. Something buried inside her was uncurling under his regard and it knew him. Recognized him. Wanted him.

Her hand started to lift of its own accord but stopped abruptly as she saw him shut down. His gaze once again turned shuttered and his face smoothed out into a plane of indifference. The strings of tension holding them together broke and she regained the ability to breathe as she watched him turn and walk out the door. She stood staring at the doorway trying to reassemble the mad jumble of emotions bouncing around inside her into some kind of order. That whole encounter has lasted less than a minute. Less than a minute to completely upend her entire world.

She had no reasonable explanation for the fact that she felt as though Draco Malfoy had just imprinted himself on her soul.

The sound of footsteps behind her startled her out of her thoughts and she turned to face Professor Snape. When she finally found her voice it was a soft and thready thing.

"Why did you keep this a secret?"

"It was not my secret to tell. Draco did not want his involvement known to anyone but myself and Dumbledore and I saw no reason to argue."

"No reason?" she choked, "You saw no reason why we shouldn't all go on-" she stopped herself before she said it but he heard her clear enough.

"Hating him? That is his burden to bear as it is mine. Do you not think it would be suspicious if you suddenly did not hate him?"

"Surely I could manage to act accordingly."

"No, you could not. Potter could as his childhood aptly prepared him for shielding his feelings. Weasley could as he's petty enough to grasp onto past injuries and hold them close. Your heart shines straight through your eyes and the injustice of treating someone badly who doesn't deserve it would prevent you from keeping it up for long."

"I manage well enough with you."

He scoffed at that. "You most certainly do not. I have to spend an enormous amount of energy being an unreasonable bastard to Potter at every opportunity as the only time you seem to be able to treat me as you should is when you're indignant on his behalf."

Her mouth gaped open, "You-" Then her mouth snapped shut and her eyes narrowed. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Surely you've figured out that I'm not going to let you keep your memories of tonight, Miss Granger. Draco's position is precarious and his feelings for you are an enormous liability. If you looked at each other in public the way you just did tonight the both of you would end up dead. He's managing to keep his emotions buried quite well but only because you are impossibly out of his reach. In hating him you give him his greatest protection."

She couldn't quite process the fact that she was having a serious conversation about Draco Malfoy's feelings for her with Professor Snape. Or that it was affecting her so much.

"This is insane. Draco Malfoy couldn't possibly-"

"Love you? I assure you he does. Has done for quite some time now. I suspect he will have quite a few things to tell you when this is all over. In the mean time..." His wand was suddenly pointed at her forehead, "Obliviate."

XXX


	3. Chapter 3

**Harry Potter and all of its characters and settings belong to JK Rowling.**

Author's Note: Sorry it's been a while! People keep inserting themselves into the plot that I didn't expect and forcing me to rearrange my plans. I didn't want to risk posting anything that I would have to change later but I'm on page thirty five now and this part hasn't changed in weeks so I think it's safe =)

XXX

Pansy Parkinson was creeping into the Slytherin common room after a long midnight soak in the Prefects' bath when she heard the sound of someone retching. Blaise Zabini was slumped on the floor in front of one of the couches and the air reeked of bile.

"Merlin, Zabini, if you're going to tie one on at least have the decency to-" she broke off as his head shot up and she got a good look at his eyes. They weren't drunk. They were haunted and vacant, as if he'd just watched his soul slide from his body and didn't know if he would ever see it again. He was broken in a way only pure blood Slytherins could ever understand. Pansy had seen that look in her own eyes.

She approached him slowly, it was never wise to startle a vulnerable Slytherin. Sometimes they lashed out and at the moment Blaise Zabini was very much like a panther with a thorn in his paw. She scorgified the floor around him and waited for him to make his move. She would put him down if she had to but she hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"I can't do this any more, Pansy."

"What happened?" She kept her voice low and comforting, he was still on the breaking point.

"Theo happened." he practically spat and she tensed, "Draco happened. The Dark fucking Lord happened."

She gripped her wand and waited, inwardly sighing in relief as she saw his shoulders drop and knew the fight had left him.

"I happened." His voice was hollow and shattered and it pulled at what was left of her own broken soul.

Moving closer she knelt to sit by his side on the floor.

"I might have let him-" he heaved but at this point there was nothing left to come up so she just waited for him to get control. "Theo's gone. He's not keeping up appearances he's well and truly in it. He got drunk and decided it would be great fun to go scare whoever was making the rounds tonight. As soon as I saw it was Granger I knew it was going to go to hell. He had that look in his eyes, you know." She did. They all did. Their fathers all had it. "He disarmed her and I pretended to be pleased but inside I was screaming at her to run. She didn't of course. She just stood there with that Gryffindor tilt to her chin and told him not to do anything stupid and I wanted to shout at her. Didn't she see she was making it worse? Couldn't she tell she was practically daring him to hurt her? And then I felt sick for thinking it. For being angry at her like it was somehow her fault that Theo was a psychopath. Like it was her fault I had to pretend I was one too. When Theo motioned for us to grab her I knew she'd be done for if Crabbe and Goyle got hold of her so I beat them to it. I expected she'd fight and I thought if I could pull her just far enough away and then lose her she'd be able to escape. I didn't expect she'd fight so efficiently. I didn't even get a chance to turn before she took out one of my knees and then dropped from my grasp. She bolted but she was too close to Crabbe and he slammed her into the wall and then they were all over her, holding her up like a sick offering and I couldn't see any way out of it. There was no way she was escaping now so god help me I threw my hands in as well. He meant to rape her right there in the middle of the fucking hallway and I couldn't act. How could I stop him when it meant my mother or one of my sisters meeting the same fate? How could I not stop him when everything in me felt like it was dying at the very thought of it?" He paused and sucked in a breath. "Then Draco showed up all full of possessive rage and all I could feel was relieved that I wouldn't have to choose. He's going to turn Granger into his slave after his marking ceremony and all I could think was how glad I was that I wouldn't have to do it." He shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut. "What the fuck is wrong with me?"

"Nothing." Pansy said fiercely, "Don't you dare blame yourself for wanting to survive this. That might have been your first thought but the fact that you came back here and puked your guts up proves you're just fine. I guarantee you Nott, Crabbe,and Goyle are all sleeping like babies right now. There was nothing else you could have done that wouldn't have gotten you killed and your family made an example of." They sat in silence for a long moment.

"I got her wand back to her," he said suddenly as if he needed someone else to believe he had tried, "I used the arming spell when no one was looking. Draco's not an idiot like Theo so I didn't think he was going to do anything tonight except obliviate her but in case I was wrong I thought she should at least have her wand."

She nodded and silence again settled over them.

"For what it's worth I don't think you would have gone through with it," Pansy sighed, "It would have been stupid and Gryffindor and I would have cursed at your corpse but I think you would have tried to save her."

He didn't smile but some of the darkness lifted from his eyes and he leaned his side into hers. They sat that way for a long while, staring into the fire and trying to forget that the world they lived in was broken.

XXX

The next afternoon found an incredibly perplexed Hermione Granger navigating her way to the dungeons for Potions. Harry and Ron were trailing behind her, having noticed her preoccupied state and leaving her to it after a few failed attempts at engaging her in conversation. Several strange things had happened over the course of the day and she was trying desperately to make sense of them. First, she had woken up this morning with an aching, empty feeling in her chest, as if something vital was missing, something she needed. She'd run a diagnostic spell and had come up with nothing, but the ache would not desist. If anything it had gotten worse as the day progressed. She pressed her fist to her sternum as if to ease it and took a deep breath.

Second, she'd been getting flashes of an image in her mind that she couldn't place. They were hazy and gone so fast the only thing she had been able to get clearly was a pair of grey eyes. Grey eyes filled with a depth of longing that staggered her.

Third, and most alarmingly, was the fact that she was certain that at some point last night she'd been obliviated.

It was incredibly well done and if she hadn't been searching for the cause of the ache in her chest and the eyes that were haunting her she knew she'd never have noticed it. She was sure that she had started her rounds but then she had a recollection of returning to her room and getting in bed that was definitely manufactured. When she examined the memory she found the book that was on her nightstand was not the one she was currently reading but one she'd finished months ago. Someone had taken an old memory and looped it onto last night. Flawlessly.

This was both encouraging and terrifying. While it cut down on the number of suspects, she could think of only a handful here powerful enough to do such a thing, it increased the severity of the cause dramatically. This was not done by some student she'd caught out after hours. Something serious enough to have one of her professors or even the headmaster himself erasing her memory was something she needed to tread carefully around.

She'd told no one of her suspicion. The buried part of her that understood the ache in her chest and knew who those eyes belonged to had balked at the idea of sharing any information about last night, even the fact that she had none, so she'd kept her silence.

As she neared the bottom of the staircase outside the Potions classroom she heard a commotion behind her and she turned just a bit too fast to see what it was. Her heel slid off the step and she felt herself falling. She had just long enough to feel embarrassed by her clumsiness before she braced herself for what she was sure was going to be a very painful landing. But it was a landing that never came. A strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her upright allowing her feet to find the floor at the base of the staircase. She looked up to thank her rescuer and got caught in the gaze of an upsettingly familiar set of grey eyes.

A set of grey eyes that was attached to Draco Malfoy.

She couldn't breathe. All she could do was stare up at him, searching for the reason his eyes had been haunting her all day. Luckily he did not seem similarly effected and saved her from embarrassing herself by assuming his customary sneer and setting her abruptly away from him.

"Watch who you're falling on, Mudblood."

That had Harry, who'd just run down the stairs with Ron, jumping into the fray.

"You watch your mouth, Malfoy, or I'll shut it for you."

"I'd like to see you try, Potter."

She was standing between them and was preparing to stop the duel that seemed inevitable when Theodore Nott came around the corner and an unreasonable sensation of fear crawled through her stomach at the sight of him. Her body acted of its own accord, seeking protection, and before her mind had even finished assessing the threat she caught herself halfway through the process of stepping towards... Malfoy?

She stopped mid step, cursing this madness that had her mind and her body at odds and tried to cover the action by pivoting towards Harry and Ron. She needed to regroup, this situation was not something she could process while in the middle of it.

Placing her hand on Harry's chest she applied enough pressure for him to look down at her. "Let it go. Please." She willed him to listen to her and after a tense moment he nodded and started towards the classroom, motioning for Ron to do the same. She sighed with relief and followed them, forcing herself not to look back at Malfoy.

XXX

When he saw her falling he didn't think, he just reacted. In an instant he found himself with an armful of Hermione Granger and not a single inclination to let her go. He set her feet on on the ground but didn't loosen his grip until she looked up at him and a flash of startled recognition passed through her eyes. She was looking at him as if searching for an answer to a question she shouldn't even have and he knew he needed to shut that down right quick. He forced himself to set her away from him and sneer.

"Watch who you're falling on, Mudblood."

He wanted to wince as he got the effect he was seeking and she snapped back into focus. He was about to turn away when Potter made it impossible for him to retreat.

"Watch your mouth, Malfoy, or I'll shut it for you."

Damn him and his interference. Now he was going to have to hex him. "I'd like to see you try, Potter."

He saw Nott coming around the corner right before he saw all the color drain out of Hermione's face. When she made as if to step towards him it was all he could do not to reach out to comfort her. He saw as soon as she realized what she'd been doing and she stopped abruptly, a thoroughly confused look flitting over her features before she turned back towards Potter.

Draco just barely managed to hold onto his growl as he watched her put her hand on Potter's chest. It was only by sheer strength of will that he stopped himself from snatching her up and carting her off to some dark corner where he would show her that he was the only person she should be touching.

He went entirely still as that thought process kicked him in the gut.

He'd been in love with Hermione Granger for years. During that time he'd been forced to watch Krum, McLaggen, and Weasley all bumble about in their efforts to lay claim to her, and while each time he'd seen one of them touch her it had scraped his insides raw, he'd never once felt this possessive certainty. This assurance that she belonged to him and he had every right to the madness that was urging him to prove it.

Hermione Granger was not for him.

He'd known that from the beginning, accepted it long ago. Whatever was currently prowling through him was screaming to the contrary and never in his life had he felt so close to losing control of his actions. Whatever this was it was new.

And it was dangerous.

XXX


	4. Chapter 4

**Harry Potter and all of its characters and settings belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

Hermione sat on her bed, surrounded by the books she'd been using and rubbed her head wearily. Ever since she had looked up at Draco Malfoy and realized his eyes were the ones haunting her she'd felt an overwhelming compulsion to seek him out. To talk to him. To be near him. To press up against him and- _No!_ She was not going to think about that. It had been years since she'd let the dreams that plagued her of his hands and lips exploring her skin and his body taking possession of hers have any part of her consciousness. She might not be able to stop them- and oh how she'd tried- but she'd be damned if she'd let them run away with her waking mind. Especially now when she seemed most in danger of trying to act on them.

She'd explored every dark possibility for this compulsion and found nothing. She was not under the influence of a potion, she had not been hexed, there were no dark artifacts around affecting her judgment. She'd run so many tests on her person over the last few hours she was surprised she wasn't glowing with residual magic. There was nothing for it but to admit that the influence was coming from _her._

It was her magic, her _soul_ that was reaching out for him and while it was relieving to know she was not the victim of some dark purpose it was infinitely more frightening to know that whatever this was it was not going to go away. It could not be dispelled by an antidote, counter curse, or any sort of reasonable argument. The smart thing to do would be to stay far far away from him until she figured out what exactly was happening but she already knew she wasn't going to. She needed to know what this was and if he somehow felt it too, and while her brain, which insisted he was a cruel and dangerous enemy, cringed at the thought of what she'd been thinking about doing for the last hour; her magic, which insisted he was part of her, felt positively gleeful at the prospect of being near him.

She was going to confront him.

And the ache in her chest seemed to be insisting that it should be _now_.

XXX

Someone was following him.

Draco rubbed the back of his neck to alleviate the tingling that had started plaguing him on his rounds right after he'd passed Gryffindor tower and just knew this was not going to end well. He suspected it was Potter under that damned invisibility cloak again but had to admit that if it was he'd gotten much better at spying in the last few weeks. He turned to duck into an alcove to avoid the annoyance who lived and noticed three things at once. The first was that his pursuer was not invisible. The second was that they were closer than he'd realized. The third was that they were definitely not Potter.

He heard Hermione's small gasp as their eyes locked and he forgot for a long moment why he couldn't close the distance between them and see if he could get her to make that sound again. The creature that had been prowling around in his chest thought that was the best idea he'd ever had. He actually started to step towards her before he remembered that whatever was currently possessing him was insane and absolutely not to be trusted.

He had to get away from her before he did something he couldn't come back from and since he seemed incapable of moving in any direction that wasn't closer to her he knew he had to do something to make her flee. And he knew exactly what that something was. Sick at the thought of causing her to fear him in that way he swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat and ran his gaze up and down her body, twisting his face into a lewd predatory smirk.

"Well, now what do we have here?" The tone of his voice held a lethal edge. "A little mudblood all alone in a dark corridor with no one but me to hear you scream. Best run along now before I introduce you to _all_ the kinds of screams I could pull from you, Granger."

When she didn't move he narrowed his eyes at her. She didn't look afraid. Merlin help him she looked... _curious_.

XXX

Hermione watched him look her up and down and it was as if she was seeing a false facsimile pasted on top of his true form. She listened to his crude words and knew it instantly as an attempt to scare her away. Bluster and nonsense, all of it. This man would never hurt her. It was a truth so intrinsically bound to her soul she couldn't even attempt to refute it. Whatever had driven her to seek him out was right. Everything he was currently doing and saying was wrong. It all seemed so simple now that she was in front of him. There was no room for thoughts or logic, no room for doubts. She took a step forward and her magic practically hummed in agreement.

"I'm not afraid of you." She said it simply and with all the conviction she had just discovered.

His face shifted abruptly from shock to a desperate sort of alarm as she took another step closer.

"You should be." He growled, sounding every bit like a cornered animal.

Feeling very much as though she needed to prove something to him in that moment she tossed her wand to the ground at his feet and held her arms out by her sides.

"Go on then. Do something."

She saw the change come over him instantly. Everything false fell away and what was left was bright and beautiful and so very much _hers_. That's what this was. He _belonged_ to her. Had always belonged to her. She couldn't see it before because he'd been hiding himself behind that awful mask but now it was perfectly clear.

The invisible bonds that held him so tightly in place broke and with two long strides he was suddenly so close she could feel his robes brush her ankles. His hands came up to cup the sides of her face and she practically purred at the contact. The ache in her chest that had been insisting something was missing melted away and she sighed in relief. It was _him_. He had been missing. But not anymore.

"What is this?" He whispered as he slowly, so slowly lowered his head to hers.

"I don't know." She whispered back and was just about to rise up on her toes to meet him when the sound of soft giggling and a hushed whisper came from around the nearest corner.

XXX

Reality crashed in on Draco and he dropped his hands from her as if burned. _Idiot!_ his mind raged at him for his lack of control, _Like she doesn't already have a big enough target painted on her back?_ He shuddered at the thought of what his father would do to her if his feelings for her were ever revealed. He should never have touched her. He should have stunned her, petrified her, anything but the unforgivable way he'd almost just lost control.

The giggling came again louder this time and he pulled her into the alcove that he'd originally intended to hide in.

"What-"

He cut her off by pressing his finger to her lips and barely managed to contain a groan at the feel of her mouth on his skin. _Focus._

"You have to stay away from me," he stressed and willed her to believe him, "If anyone had seen-" he broke off and shook himself. He needed to get away from her. Now. Not giving her a chance to reply he backed out of the alcove.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and with one last lingering look he turned on his heal and forced himself to walk away.

XXX

His eyes were such a tortured mix of guilt and pain that she didn't need to be a genius to know that he regretted whatever had just happened between them. Pain was a sharp knife in her sternum and she found it suddenly hard to breathe around the ache in her chest that had come raging back as soon as he'd stopped touching her. Then the darkness swallowed him up and she was alone.

She stood there for what felt like an eternity, trying to control a ridiculous urge to cry. _This is absurd,_ she snarled at herself, _pull yourself together! You don't have the slightest idea what just happened._

But she knew what it felt like.

It felt like she'd just offered her soul to Draco Malfoy and he'd rejected her. Why that seemed so irreparably damaging, why she should even care was completely beyond her but there it was.

She needed information. Something rational, something she could understand. Getting back her lost memories seemed like the logical place to start. She grabbed her wand, pushed herself away from the wall on wooden legs and made her way not back to her room, but to the library. She needed answers and if he wasn't going to give them to her it was time to do what she did best.

Find them.

XXX

Draco cursed himself all the way back down to the dungeons trying to figure out what had possessed him in the last twenty four hours. He never lost control. Losing control in his world meant torture and death and he'd learned very early in life how to walk a narrow line. Now this had been the second and most alarming brush with these dangerous new instincts today and he knew he wouldn't win a third. He needed to do something to stop them. If he was thinking clearly he might have realized that the plan he was concocting to accomplish that was on an epic level of stupid but at the moment he was desperate enough to think himself brilliant.

XXX


	5. Chapter 5

**Harry Potter and all of its characters and settings belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

The next morning Hermione stared at her slightly frightening reflection in her bathroom mirror and rubbed at the ache in her chest that had become exponentially worse. She looked pale and fragile and her eyes had a sort of sunken quality to them that was a bit haunting. That wouldn't do at all. Harry and Ron would take one look at her and go straight into protective mode and she'd never be able to shake them off to get her work done. She rubbed her eyes trying to shake this overwhelming weariness that was plaguing her. She needed to get her memories back. She was certain she'd seen a way and it had to be in one of the books she'd taken last night she just couldn't remember which one. Luckily it was Saturday so she'd have all weekend to pour through them but only if the boys didn't interfere.

She downed a Pepper Up potion and waited until it took effect before casting a glamour to rid herself of the liability of looking like she needed to be taken care of.

XXX

Hermione took a deep breath and forced herself to knock on the imposing door in front of her. It was now Sunday night and after the last book in her pile had failed her she'd concocted a new plan. A plan born of exhaustion and desperation as she was now on her third dose of Pepper Up today. When the deep and equally imposing voice of Professor Snape bade her enter she did so with a determined tilt to her chin that defied her nerves.

"Miss Granger," His eyes lifted from the parchments littering his desk, "What can I do for you this evening?"

One more deep breath. "Well, sir, you can start by telling my why you obliviated me."

One dark eyebrow climbed toward the ceiling and if she didn't know what he was capable of she would have thought herself an utter fool for suggesting such a thing.

"And what, pray tell, would cause you to come to the conclusion that I had done anything of the sort?"

Oh, he was good. If she were any less desperate for answers she would have been stammering an apology and fleeing the room. As it was she knew she was right and fleeing was not an option.

"Logical deductive reasoning, sir. I know I was obliviated and while a fair number of the staff and even a few of the students could have erased my memory there are only three people in this castle with the skill to have modified it quite so flawlessly." At that he cut her off.

"Miss Granger, you are contradicting yourself. If your memory were flawlessly modified, as I'm sure it would be if I had done such a thing, you would not even know you had been obliviated. That is rather the point."

"Yes, sir, but I was..." she scrambled for something to say that wasn't that she'd felt a soul deep longing for a pair of grey eyes, "...unsettled the next morning. I examined the events of the night and saw nothing amiss. The first time. If I wasn't so certain that something was wrong that would have been the end of it but as it was I watched them again and that time through I noticed the book on my nightstand was not the one that belonged there. I concluded I had been masterfully obliviated and that led me to three possible suspects. Professor Dumbledore could but would not. The appearance of free will and all that." If possible Snape's eyebrow lifted itself even higher than before at the word 'appearance'. "I would of course have most likely ended up doing whatever he'd wanted me to do but he would have left me my memories and given me the notion of a choice."

Snape inclined his head, whether it was an agreement or a bid to continue she couldn't tell.

"If Professor McGonagall had done it I would be able to tell. There would be a look in her eye, a slight tensing of guilt no matter how noble she thought the reason to be. I have no doubt she would have done it if she felt it necessary but I had class with her Friday and she was completely at ease. Whatever happened she was not involved."

Snape's eyes took on a strange quality. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but she didn't give herself time to analyze it before pushing on.

"And that leaves you, Professor. With both the ability to perform the complex magic and the inclination to act independently and by whatever means you deem necessary. If you don't tell me I assure you I will unravel the memory myself. I found a book in the library that gives a very detailed description on how to do it." She left out that she'd found it months ago and currently couldn't remember which blasted book it was. "I came here because I assumed you would rather explain it so I have the proper context than deal with whatever I might do with my own conclusions." Like throw myself at Draco Malfoy. Again.

She recognized what it was his eyes were conveying right before he pinched the bridge of his nose in a resigned sort of way. It was a grudging glint of respect.

"Miss Granger," he drawled, "you are insufferably bright."

She let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding at his backhanded praise.

"You are also the worst source of trouble I have encountered in a great many years. You are safer without this knowledge, that is why I removed it from you in the first place. Also, it is not only your safety that I'm concerned with."

"Draco." She almost gasped the name and Snape's eyes turned severe at her tone. Appalled at her lack of control she attempted to reign in the panic that she could not understand at the thought of him in danger. "I know he's involved so don't try to deny it, what danger is he in?"

"What makes you think this has anything to do with Draco?"

She swallowed her first answer as she was certainly not about to tell Professor Snape that she felt like Draco Malfoy somehow belonged to her. "I confronted him and his behavior confirmed it." Perfectly truthful.

"You confronted him." He was pinching the bridge of his nose again. "Of course you did. Bloody Gryffindors and their reckless emotional displays. Of all the things you could have done in this situation that is by far the worst. You need to stay-" His rant cut off and he suddenly went very still. "His behavior confirmed it. What exactly do you mean by that, Miss Granger?"

Before she could invent something to tell him she could feel the blush spreading over her face and knew she was doomed.

"Legilimens!"

She tried to block him but it happened too fast. She could do nothing but watch helplessly as he gathered in everything. The confrontation, the almost kiss, the way it felt like her soul was reaching out for Draco. When he finally released her she looked up to berate him for invading her mind without permission but stopped at the look in his eyes. He looked... alarmed. And that shocked her into silence. She had never seen such a look on him.

"Miss Granger, this situation has just changed rather dramatically. You will return to your room and stay there until I summon you and you will do so without speaking to anyone do you understand me?" His tone brooked no refusal and she could do nothing but nod. At her agreement he swept from the room and slammed the door behind him.

She stood there staring at the door until the shock of his abrupt exit turned into frustrated outrage. He knew what was going on and she still didn't. How dare he send her off to her room like an errant child without any sort of explanation? She stormed out of his office, angry at the knowledge that she was going to do exactly as he'd demanded simply for lack of a better option. She'd been through every book she could think-

It hit her like one of Peeves' water balloons why she hadn't been able to find the book she needed in the library. An almost devious smile lit up her tired features as she quickened her pace. Snape may or may not give her the whole truth. He also may well just decide to obliviate her again. It was a gamble she'd been willing to take when she'd thought she had no choice. Now that she remembered exactly where she'd seen the book she needed she wasn't going to leave it up to him. She'd go to her room all right. But she wouldn't be staying.

Being Hermione Granger meant knowing how to do a great many things that most people assumed students incapable of and as such didn't guard against. Things like making an unregistered connection to the floo network.

XXX

"A soul bond?" Dumbledore smiled, "Isn't that remarkable!"

"No it is bloody well not remarkable, Albus," Snape snarled, pacing in front of the fireplace in Dumbledore's office, "It is a disaster! I did not come here for you to be enamored by the possibility, I came here for you to disabuse me of the notion."

Dumbledore chuckled, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Severus, but I can not. From what you've shown me of their encounters I must conclude that you are correct."

"But why now? Draco's feelings for the girl have been growing for years but until now he's been quite successful in ignoring them or at the very least not acting on them."

"I suspect they might each have felt a slight pull towards the other before they became of age, a recognition of the potential if you will, but it would have been a mild thing and easily ignored if they wished. Mr. Malfoy had a very good reason to do so and having witnessed the nature of their previous encounters I would say Miss Granger certainly did as well. Full manifestation is not possible until both parties are of age and the initiation requires skin to skin contact. When he brushed his fingers down Miss Granger's cheek the night she was attacked that would have set it off."

"Albus, I can not understand why you are still smiling. This is going to get the both of them killed."

"Love is always a reason to smile, Severus. I agree it seems like inconvenient timing but these things have a mysterious way of working out. We should, of course, help out a bit and as it happens, I have a plan." He broke off to walk over and place both hands on the wall.

Snape's eyes narrowed in suspicion as the stone beneath the headmaster's hands began to glow and he saw him smile warmly.

"Ah, there you are old friend. Will you help me protect them?" The glow emanating from the stones pulsed brightly before extinguishing.

"Albus," Snape queried slowly, "Did you just request assistance from the castle?"

"I did indeed, my boy, and I'm pleased to say it has agreed," He chuckled, "Oh come now, Severus, surely you've suspected something of the sort for years."

Snape shook his head in what on another man might have been amusement. "Suspecting something so outrageous and actually seeing it are two very different things. Are you going to tell me what the castle has done?"

"I haven't the foggiest but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. I think I'll go and fetch Miss Granger. We ought to give her back her memories before we bring Mr. Malfoy in."

XXX

"Sirius?" Hermione called out as she stepped from the fireplace.

After catching Harry sneaking out to the owlery in the middle of the night for the third time she'd known she would have to find a better way for them to communicate or they'd eventually get caught by someone who wasn't so understanding. After the Umbridge fiasco they knew that the common room fireplace was a registered floo and as such could be tracked. She'd discovered that the fireplace in the Head Girl's dorm, however, was just an ordinary fireplace. Or it had been until she'd tampered with it. It took her a week of testing before she had finally been certain that she'd managed to create a safe and completely untraceable passage between her room and the Grimmauld Place library. Seeing the smile on Harry's face when she'd explained to him what she'd done had made it all worth it. Seeing the look on Sirius's face when they popped in the first time and he realized he wouldn't have to spend another school year stuck there all alone would have made it worth it even if it had taken months.

"Kitten!" Sirius beamed at her from the doorway, "What brings you here tonight?"

She returned his smile a bit wearily, "I was hoping I could borrow one of your books."

"Sure thing, love. Take whatever you'd like." He gestured toward the door, "I was just about to feed Buckbeak unless you need help?"

"No, thanks," she said, grateful for the excuse to be alone, "I know where it is."

"All right, just shout if you need anything." And with another grin he was gone.

She walked to the bookshelves and found what she was looking for almost instantly. If she wasn't so tired she might have danced with glee as her eyes practically devoured the book she'd been searching for all weekend. Pulling it from the shelf she sat right there on the floor to read and re read the instructions and she was certain she could manage it. If a nagging voice in her head told her she probably shouldn't attempt a spell that seemed to require a substantial amount of power when she was feeling so weak she resolutely ignored it. Answers were literally right at her fingertips, she wasn't about to stop now.

Later she would look back on that moment and pinpoint it as the one when everything went completely insane.

She performed the spell successfully. She remembered _everything_. And then she passed out.

XXX


	6. Chapter 6

**Harry Potter and all of its characters and settings belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

Something was very wrong. Draco strode down the corridor that lead to Dumbledore's office with an almost frantic urge he shouldn't be able to feel curling tightly around his heart. The potion he'd taken should have blocked it, like it had been blocking all his emotions for the last two days but somehow this need to go to her was getting through. His feet had started to take him toward the staircase leading to her room before he even knew what he was doing and he'd ground his teeth at the effort it took to turn back and head toward the only person who could help him with this lunacy. Snape wasn't in his office or his chambers and Draco was getting desperate.

The gargoyle slid aside to let him enter without a password but he didn't stop to question it. He burst through the door and sighed in relief when he saw that Snape was indeed there and even better, the headmaster was not.

"I need you to stun me, or lock me up, something to keep me away from her." He blurted without preamble.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you explain what exactly has happened since this morning when you seemed perfectly fine and I'll try to come up with a solution that's not quite so melodramatic."

"I'm not being melodramatic, Severus. I'm telling you plainly that if you don't subdue me somehow I'm quite literally going to be dragged to her side against my will by a body that doesn't feel like it belongs to me anymore. It almost happened just now and I just barely managed to make my way here instead. And the reason I seemed fine to you this morning was because at that time the bloody potion was still working.

Snape's eyes narrowed. "What bloody potion?"

Draco sighed. This was not going to go over well. "The one I stole from your office on Friday night. The one you invented for revels."

Snape went very still and Draco got a glimpse of the man both Order members and Death Eaters feared.

"Do you mean to tell me that you have been taking Soul Deadening potion, a highly volatile compound that was only meant to be used sparingly and in small doses and only by me I might add, for _two days_? And you did so behind my back so I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to help you if something had gone wrong?"

"Yes, well when you say it like that it seems reckless and stupid but at the time I had just nearly grabbed hold of her in the middle of a hallway full of people with the intention of carting her off to have my way with her so it seemed like the lesser of two evils. And I'm here now because something _has_ gone wrong. It's not bloody working anymore and I need your help."

Snape's eyes lost some of their venom. "Draco have you stopped to consider what exactly it is that you've been trying to suppress?"

"No, honestly I was more concerned with making it stop."

"Can you really think of nothing that might make you feel so strongly _bonded_ to someone that it would counteract both my potion and your considerable willpower?"

Draco got the gist of where this was going and shook his head sharply, "Don't be ridiculous, that's a myth. A fairy tale."

"I assure you it's not."

Draco examined the events of the last few days as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that his godfather was implying that he had a soul bond with Hermione Granger. It was madness. Except it didn't feel mad. It felt like he finally knew what the hell was going on. He got a flash of running his fingers down her cheek the night she was attacked and sucked in a sharp breath as he realized that's when his feelings had changed, when they had become so assured and impossible to ignore. Skin to skin contact. All the stories seemed to agree that was what initiated the bond. He suddenly went cold all over as he remembered something else all the stories seemed to agree on.

"Severus, we need to send someone to check on her. It's not sealed. If that's what this is and I've been denying the bond she's going to be-"

"She's fine, I just saw her not thirty minutes ago. It hasn't been long enough for her to be in any danger."

It should have been reassuring but it wasn't. "It doesn't feel fine. I'm telling you something is wrong."

Snape looked as though something was churning around in his mind. The way his jaw set was not at all comforting. "I'm going to go get the antidote. Stay here. If she's fine Dumbledore will be bringing her up shortly. If she's not you'll need to be completely free of the potion before you'll be able to help her."

He didn't wait for an answer and with a small pop disappeared into the fireplace. Draco paced and the next sixty seconds felt like an eternity until Snape reappeared and handed him a small vial filled with red liquid. He downed it and continued pacing while waiting for it to take effect.

They both came to alert as Dumbledore entered the office with a worried crease in his brow. "I was unable to locate Miss Granger."

"She's not in the castle," Draco barely managed to get the words out as the antidote did its job and everything he'd been blocking was suddenly swamping him. He could feel her magic calling to him from somewhere far away and it was practically beating at him to hurry because- "She's dying."

As soon as the words left his lips it was as if something broke open inside him. That prowling creature he'd been trying so hard to suppress took over and suddenly he knew what to do. Ignoring the shocked look on the headmaster's face and the fact that what he was about to attempt should be impossible, he pushed some of her magic into the fireplace, activated the floo, and stepped through before they could stop him.

He let himself be pulled along, feeling her magic guiding him where he needed to go. When he stepped out he found himself in what appeared to be the library of a very old and very _dark_ house. It was the kind of house that reminded him of his Aunt Bella and it set him instantly on guard. His eyes scanned the room and when they landed on the prone figure sprawled out on the floor he felt as if his heart had stopped beating. He ran to her side, dropping to his knees beside her and pulling the heavy book off of her chest. She was so pale he would have though he was too late if he couldn't still feel the faint pulse of her magic reaching for him. He swept her hair from her face and leaned down with a softly whispered curse before brushing his lips to hers and sealing both of their fates.

XXX

Narcissa Malfoy stared at her bruised reflection in her ornate bathroom mirror and tried to remember a time when pain and fear hadn't been her constant companions. When there had been kind eyes and reverent touches. It got harder with each passing year. Being married to Lucius Malfoy was not for the faint of heart and she wondered not for the first time how much longer she could survive this. It was a silly thought. The answer was always the same. As long as it took.

 _I chose this._ She reminded herself. Sometimes she needed that reminder like she needed her next breath. She was here for a reason and she would endure whatever she had to to bring down the monster who was a threat to everyone she loved. Her son. Her sister. _Him._

She squeezed her eyes shut trying to picture the way his face had looked whenever he said her name and felt a tear run down her cheek. He would never forgive her for what she'd done to him. Even when this was over and they were both finally free she would never see that look again. She steeled herself with the knowledge that it had been necessary and as long as he was alive that's all that mattered. She would break herself on Lucius's whims for the next hundred years if that's what it took and she willed herself to focus on that distinction.

Lucius Malfoy was not breaking her. She was breaking herself.

She swiped impatiently at the lone tear and was reaching for her wand so she could start putting herself back together when she felt it. She froze, not quite trusting the feeling of heat coming from the ring on her right hand. She was afraid she was imagining it. When it didn't fade under her regard she gasped and brought her hand to her face, reveling in the warmth seeping into her bruised cheek. The charm she'd put on it so many years ago had finally activated. All the waiting and planning was over. It was finally time to act.

Narcissa Malfoy stared at her bruised reflection in her ornate bathroom mirror and smiled.

XXX

Pansy walked down the hallway still not quite believing what she was about to do and for the thousandth time trying to think of a better way. There wasn't one. She'd wrestled with herself about the foolishness of getting involved but as soon as Blaise had told her what Malfoy was planning for Granger she knew she was going to. This was the line. The thing that would break her and finally crush the soul she'd been trying to so hard to keep. She couldn't let it happen and live with herself. There wasn't a chance in hell Granger had gone to bed that night with any of her memories in tact. Pansy wouldn't reveal how she'd come across the information but she needed to at least warn them.

And it was just her cringe inducing luck that Weasley was the first of them she came across alone. She almost didn't go through with it, but thought of how many days it had already been and how many more it might be before she got another chance. Better to get it over with. It went about as well as could be expected.

"And you're just now telling us this?" The famous Weasley bluster came pouring out in full force, "You want to help but you wait until he could have taken her ten times over?"

"Oh don't exaggerate, Weasley. You know damned well this isn't the kind of thing I could have popped over and mentioned over breakfast. It's not my fault none of you seem to go anywhere without a full parade following behind you."

"Why should I trust you?"

She ground her teeth at his tone but reminded herself that she knew what she was getting into before she went through with this madness. "Do or don't, Weasley, I don't really care," _liar,_ "I came to warn you and now I have so that's me done."

She started to back away and heard his muttered, "Yah, you're a real hero, Parkinson," and suddenly found herself rooted to the floor.

That word coupled with the look on his face broke something open inside her. She didn't know why this time was different. She'd seen that look so many times on so many faces but _this_ time on _his_ face it was too much and all the anger she usually kept a tight reign on came flooding out.

And she wanted to drown him in it.

"Don't you dare judge me you self righteous prick." She spat the words at him and then she couldn't stop. "How much courage does it take to be the hero when everyone you love is standing right next to you, fighting by your side? You shake your fist at the evil in the world and call yourself brave and then you get to go home. Home to a father who taught you to ride a broomstick and a mother who knits you sweaters." Bitterness was choking her. "Yes, some of you will die. But did you know he kills us too? And when one of yours is lost you get to band together and grieve, to shout at the sky and take comfort from the fact that you can avenge them. When one of ours is lost we have to pretend we don't care. Like it's perfectly normal for there to be a body on the drawing room floor that used to belong to our sister. Like we agree she deserved to die because she objected to being offered up like a prize to whatever monster was his favorite that week." She stopped as the words seemed to thicken in her throat and waited until she could keep the tears that were burning in the back of her eyes from falling. "You couldn't possibly fathom what it's like to be the child of a Death Eater. We were born in a whirlpool. Some of us dive into the darkness. Nott and Malfoy went under willingly. Some of us just give in. Let ourselves drown in it because it's easier than feeling the way we do when everything around us is so broken. But some of us fight every fucking day to keep our heads above water. And you stand there on your rock and look down on us, smug in your superiority because you were lucky enough to be born on the right side." She shook her head. "And you wonder why we hate the lot of you." She stared at him for a few seconds, shaking with emotion, before brushing past him on her way back down the hall.

XXX

Ron stood there for a long moment, staring after her and feeling like a foundation point of his existence had just crumbled beneath him.

Then his feet were flying across the stones that lead to the library, feeling a bit foolish for his sudden panic but not enough to slow down.

No one had seen Hermione since dinner.

XXX


	7. Chapter 7

**Harry Potter and all of its characters and settings belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

Hermione was having the most wonderful dream. She felt whole and content and _powerful_. Nothing at all like the drawn weak creature she'd become over the last two days. And Draco was there, looking down at her with that staggering expression she loved. The one that said she was the most precious being in the universe. The one that only made sense when she was asleep. In dreams it was a simple truth that they belonged to each other so she didn't fight the urge to curl her hand around the back of his neck and pull him down as she lifted her head to press her lips to his. He went completely still for a heartbeat and then she felt him shudder against her and suddenly he was pressing her down into the floor. She had a moment when something was niggling at her consciousness. _Why am I on the floor?_ But then his mouth was laying claim to hers and she gave herself up to the pleasure of it.

It was exquisite.

Hermione felt every notion she'd ever had about desire being laid to waste at the feet of this kiss. She arched up into him, wanting to get closer and the small growl he emitted sent a delicious shiver down her spine. But the sound seemed to have a negative effect on him and he broke away sharply. She tried to follow him up and she heard him groan as he placed both hands on her shoulders and gently pressed her back down. She stared up at him, his eyes burning into hers as he seemed to be fighting some internal battle. Something was wrong. He never looked conflicted in her dreams. This was more the way he'd looked that night in the corridor or- _the way he'd looked in Snape's sitting room after he saved me from Nott._

The outside world intruded and everything came crashing in on her. The memories Snape had stolen, the truth about his loyalty, and most importantly the fact that this was not a dream.

XXX

Draco was certain he'd never done anything as difficult as pulling away from a Hermione Granger who was kissing him like she wanted to belong to him, but he was also certain she had no idea what she was doing.

The moment her eyes cleared and she came fully awake he braced himself for what he was sure was going to be a well deserved attack. He was wholly unprepared for what she did next.

She sat up abruptly, pulling her knees underneath her with a softly whispered, "Oh, thank Merlin," and then she was kissing him again.

This time he let himself get lost in her. She'd consciously, willingly chosen him. The why could wait for later. His arms banded around her, pulling her up until they were both kneeling and when she was pressed fully against him she let out a small sound of pleasure that set his blood on fire. He slid a hand into her hair and angled her head so he could fully take possession of her mouth, reveling in the way she melted into him, letting him take control.

The sound of a throat being cleared came from the doorway, snapping his mind from lust to threat mode and he instantly stood to put himself in front of her, pulling his wand.

An amused looking Sirius Black stood in the doorway. The man ignored him and his wand, looking over his shoulder at Hermione, who had jumped to her feet and was attempting to step around him.

"Something you want to explain, Kitten?"

 _Kitten?_ Draco narrowed his eyes and Black suddenly barked with laughter.

"Don't get your nose out of joint, Cousin, I give everyone ridiculous nicknames. It's part of my charm. Now, if you would please lower your wand and let Hermione out from behind you? I promise I mean her no harm. I've not quite made up my mind about you yet but the protective stance you immediately jumped to gains you quite a few points in my esteem. And seeing as she is quite the cleverest witch I have ever had the pleasure of encountering I figure if she thinks it's a good idea to snog a Malfoy on my library floor I at least owe her the benefit of the doubt."

XXX

Insane. The world had gone completely insane. Hermione had just been kissed out of a magically induced coma by the most unlikely fairy tale prince imaginable. Upon waking she had in fact snogged Draco Malfoy on the floor of the headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, and Sirius Black, instead of hexing Draco on sight, had just laughed as if this was vastly amusing and calmly stood there bantering with him.

She decided sanity was highly overrated.

She was done fighting herself. The moment she woke she could feel his magic curling around inside of her and it was pure and untainted and it most definitely belonged mingling with hers. Having the knowledge the lost memories brought finally silenced the arguments her brain had been hurling at her feelings and now her entire being was united in the goal of getting as close to him as possible. He wasn't the enemy. The relief that had swamped her upon realizing she wasn't dreaming the way she felt or the way he was looking at her had her throwing herself into his arms completely unconcerned with their current surroundings.

Now she was blushing to the roots of her hair at being caught in such a position and having to try and explain something she wasn't fully clear on herself but she didn't regret it for a moment.

She curled her fingers around Draco's wand arm silently requesting that he put it away and he acquiesced almost instantly, sending a heady sort of thrill shooting through her at the thought that she had that sort of power over him. It was good to know this pull wasn't one sided.

She stepped out from behind him and placed herself by his side, threading her fingers through his and smiling slightly at the way he still looked a bit shocked that she was touching him.

"He's mine, Sirius." She let one shoulder raise in a shrug, "I don't know if I can explain it any better than that. I have no idea how he got here or why exactly I needed him to be but I know he's on our side and I know that he's mine. The number of things he needs to explain to me are legion but his loyalty isn't one of them."

XXX

Harry Potter was hallucinating. That seemed the most logical explanation for the sight that greeted him as he stepped out of the fireplace and into his godfather's library. Ron had come barreling into the common room to tell him what Pansy Parkinson had said and the fact that Hermione was not in the library, down at Hagrid's, or in McGonagall's office. They checked her room, having been given access to her wards, and felt a deep surge of relief at seeing that her floo had recently been activated. But that relief died a gruesome death as soon as he laid eyes on her.

Surely Hermione had not just declared that Draco Malfoy belonged to her and she was most certainly _not_ holding his hand, but when Ron stepped out behind him and had the same horrified expression he knew was currently gracing his own face he felt his stomach drop. Not hallucinating. A boggart? No, his boggarts always showed the same thing and besides, Sirius was closer and for some reason looked perfectly at ease. She must have been cursed, or dosed with love potion or something. Well that was easy enough to fix, he just needed to get them apart. He pulled his wand and motioned for Ron to be ready.

"Hermione," he began with the same soft cajoling voice he'd used when Ron had been similarly afflicted and all three heads across the room snapped to the side, "I'm going to need you to step away from Malfoy for a moment."

XXX

 _Oh for Merlin's sake!_ Hermione sighed internally as she stepped in front of Draco. She was intensely pleased when he neither pulled his wand nor attempted to stop her. Fighting next to someone who could think through a situation instead of blindly reacting was a refreshing change. She had to deal with this. Anything he did at that point would only make it worse.

"Harry, put your wand away and Ron, stop edging around like you're going to tackle someone. I love you both but I swear if you attack him without hearing me out I will hex you."

"Hermione," Harry's voice sounded pained, "I really don't want to hurt you but I need you to get out of the way so I can fix whatever he's done to you."

She felt Draco's hands settle on her waist and the low growly tone that came over her shoulder did not bode well for her friends.

"If you harm her in any way, Potter, I will take great pleasure in teaching you why all of Slytherin fears me."

Oh, there was something so wrong with her for finding that attractive.

XXX

Draco had been perfectly content to let her deal with the predicament. As this was her territory he deferred to her judgement and if she could diffuse the situation he was glad to have her do it. He really didn't want to hurt her idiot friends, his sins against her were already piled high enough with out adding that to the list, and that was the only thing he could offer in this instance. When he allowed her to take control he again saw that strange mixture of amusement and approval on Black's face. It seemed he had gained an unusual ally.

But when Potter threatened her all bets were off. Nothing in this world would allow him to stand here and let her be hurt.

He curled his fingers around her waist, preparing to pull her out of harm's way, and delivered a very sincere threat.

"If you harm her in any way, Potter, I will take great pleasure in teaching you why all of Slytherin fears me." He was suddenly hit with a small tingle of arousal, and shock shot through him as he realized where it had come from. _Bloody bludgering hell._ It seemed _all_ the stories were true.

"Dear me, I do hope that won't be necessary." The voice of Dumbledore twinkled from the fireplace and all eyes turned to see his head floating in the flames. He turned and called out behind him, "I've found them, Severus," before addressing Black, "If we may come through, Sirius?"

"Certainly, Albus," Black replied with a grin and both the Headmaster and Snape came walking into the room, "My, but this is shaping up to be quite the get together."

"Yes," Snape drawled, "It would be a lovely party if Miss Granger hadn't almost just died and Potter wasn't currently in danger of dismemberment."

"Oh come off it," Potter snarled, "The only thing wrong with Hermione is the fact that she's protecting the man who plans to become a Death Eater and take her as his personal slave. And I'm not in any sort of danger. I have him cold. As his hands are currently quite full of something they shouldn't be he'd never make it to his wand before I put him down."

"Your ignorance is astounding, Potter," Snape sneered, "That story is a purposely circulated bit of fiction. And he doesn't need his wand. The fact that you and Weasley are both still standing is surely attributed to his unwillingness to upset Miss Granger."

"Unwillingness to upset-" Potter broke off incredulously, "Not two days ago he was calling her Mudblood in the hallway so forgive me if I find that hard to believe."

Draco knew he flinched and he saw the slight tick in Snape's face as well. They both had very bad memories attached to that word regarding women. His fingers tightened on her waist as shame beat at him. How could he ever even begin to atone for all the things he'd done to her?

XXX

Hermione felt him tense behind her and she found herself wishing she had just knocked both Harry and Ron out on sight. She still hadn't the slightest idea what the hell was going on but she had one more irrefutable truth to add to her list. She could feel his emotions. She had started to suspect something when she realized alarm had shot through her at Sirius's interruption, and anger had pulsed when Harry had threatened her but now she was sure. At the moment the shame and self loathing that was twisting his insides was crippling. She couldn't let that stand. She desperately wished they were alone so she could turn and look at him, talk to him, but as it was she didn't dare take her eyes off of Harry or Ron who she knew might go off at any moment. So she did what she could under the circumstances. She leaned into him so her back was pressed against his chest and concentrated on sending him her acceptance. Everything he'd done, everything he would do was to further the cause of protecting them all from a madman. She would not let him be torn apart for it.

XXX

Draco knew without a doubt that he did not deserve the miracle that was Hermione Granger. He had tormented her, made her cry on numerous occasions, hurt people she loved, and just nearly killed her with his stupidity and yet there she stood, leaning into him and trying to comfort him. He could feel the waves of acceptance she was pushing at him and realized she must have felt his internal disgust. The soul bond made it impossible to hide strong emotions. It struck him then that she didn't even know what was happening. He was sure that muggles did not have the same bedtime stories as wizards so she would be walking completely blind and still dealing with everything beautifully.

"Yes, I believe that will be quite enough bickering." Dumbledore's voice was friendly but commanding, "Harry, kindly put your wand away, I assure you there is no need for it here. It is time for some explanations. I think Miss Granger has been in the dark quite long enough, although from the look of that book there she has probably sussed out half of it." Draco's eyes strayed to the book he had pulled off of her when he arrived and saw the spell it was open to. Gods she was brilliant. "The other half will take some time to sort out although myself, Severus, and Draco know the particulars, and judging from the amusement that has been constantly present on his face I suspect Sirius has guessed. As such I suggest we all make ourselves comfortable."

With that he waved his wand and the assorted couches and chairs in the room assembled themselves closer to the fireplace and on the way one of the couches scooped both Potter and Weasley up, not giving them a chance to protest. He smirked as Hermione led them to another small couch and sat beside him, her hand tucked firmly in his. Snape and Black both took armchairs in between the two couches as if to stave off any further threats to their respective godsons and found themselves slightly put out to be sitting next to each other. Dumbledore stood by the fire and clasped his hands together.

"Before we begin I must insist on a vow of secrecy from you, Harry, and you, Mr. Weasley, ensuring you do not speak of anything you learn in this room to anyone who does not already know of it."

Both of them still looked a bit twitchy that Hermione was still so close to him but they both sealed the vow. "Excellent, now on to business!"

Dumbledore went on to explain how Draco had been passing information through Snape since the summer after third year when the mark on his father's arm had darkened and they had known Voldemort was again gaining strength. At first it hadn't been much but after the bastard had regained his body and taken up residence in his bloody house the intel was of considerably more value. He shuddered at the thought that his mother was even now within hexing distance of that monster and felt Hermione squeezing his hand.

This had Potter and Weasley jumping to their feet to set off on another long tirade about the nature of his character and whether or not he could be trusted which had Snape diving in to defend him and Hermione bristling beside him. Even if he couldn't feel her emotions he'd know she was reaching the end of her limit of being spoken around and was about to put a stop to it. He didn't really think there was anything she could say at this point that would shut them up.

"Oh would you two please stop implying that I am somehow mentally deficient?" she snapped as she rose from her seat.

He should have had more faith.

All went blissfully silent as Potter and Weasley both wheeled to face her with almost pained expressions on their faces. "Mione, we would never-" Weasley started but she cut him off.

"Except you have been, repeatedly, since you arrived here. Implying that Draco is not trustworthy leads me to assume you think I have somehow been hoodwinked by him which in turn is implying that I am not bright enough to deduce when I am being magically manipulated. Do you honestly suppose that I just woke up one morning feeling inordinately fond of someone we considered to be one of our most dangerous enemies and accepted it without exploring every possibility and thoroughly testing myself for each one?"

They both had the decency to look a bit sheepish.

"Yes, I can see by the look on your faces you thought exactly that," she sniffed, "How incredibly insulting." Draco didn't even attempt to conceal his smirk at the way she had just neatly taken all the fight out of two of the most hotheaded stubborn wizards imaginable. "Professor Snape, one of the greatest practitioners of mind magic in existence, obliviated me and I figured it out in less than twelve hours but if you suppose I somehow missed something Draco might have done to me you're welcome to try to find it." Her hands were placed firmly on her hips and the look on her face dared them to take her up on that dangerous offer. She was magnificent.

"You're right." Everyone in the room seemed to be a bit shocked that it was Weasley who said it. He turned to Potter. "Look mate, if we can't trust that Hermione knows what she's doing we might as well give up now because we'd be well and truly done for." He crossed his arms over his chest decidedly as if that was the end of it.

Potter pressed his hand to his forehead and sighed. "I hate it when you do that."

"What?"

"Figure out why we're idiots before I do."

Hermione's stance relaxed and she smiled fondly at both of them. Potter looked over at her. "Hermione I-"

"I know," she stopped him, "You were worried. Honestly, I'm worried too. But not about him. I promise you he's on our side."

"All right, if you say he's solid I trust your judgement but Hermione, accepting that he doesn't want to serve Voldemort is a far cry from understanding why you feel the sudden urge to press up against him and hold his hand. And what in Godric's name is with the way he practically growled at me when he thought I was threatening you? He sounded like Lupin gets around Tonks but I know he's not a werewolf and you're certainly not his mate."

At the word mate Weasley sat abruptly and all the color drained from his face as he looked between them. "Bugger me."

"Very succinct, Weasley," Snape drawled, "As you have so eloquently hit the nail on the head as they say, will you please try to exert some control over your friend so we can have the discussion Miss Granger, who was raised by muggles and as such has no idea what it is that is happening to her, so desperately needs to hear?"

Weasley nodded and began pulling on Potter's arm. "Seriously, mate. You need to sit down now."

Potter, looking thoroughly confused but unwilling to keep up the fight now that his backup had defected, did as he was told.

XXX

Dumbledore looked around as if waiting to make sure there would be no more outbursts. "Now then, Professor Snape came to me this evening with a theory that I agree is the most likely answer to all of the strange occurrences that have been afflicting the two of you. Fortunately there is a very easy test to confirm it. If you would both please roll up your sleeves? What we suspect will have left a very distinct mark."

Hermione pushed aside the fabric of her sweater and saw it instantly. There on the top of her left wrist was what appeared to be some sort of celtic knot work. Her eyes sought out Draco and saw him staring down at his own identical mark.

"What does this mean?"

"It is the mark of a soul bond. Which means that while Mr. Malfoy is not a werewolf, you are in fact his mate. Your souls were created with the purpose of being bound together. Unlike werewolf or veela mates who's souls simply recognize each other, your magic has merged which will give you access to an unparalleled level of power and the potential to do extraordinary things. The stories of magic performed by bonded pairs has turned into the stuff of legends and fairy tales in our world, but in this case the fairy tales are true."

 _Well that explains a great deal._

XXX


	8. Chapter 8

**Harry Potter and all of its settings and characters belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

Narcissa pulled the hood of her cloak tighter around her face as she walked down the narrow road leading to her destination with the small figure of a house elf walking at her side. House elves were, in her personal opinion, the greatest creatures to ever grace this earth. She had discovered something invaluable upon taking the title of Lady Malfoy and that was that all of the Malfoy house elves were technically _hers._ As the running of a household was considered women's work the elves were bound to follow her orders above all others. Which meant that when Lucius ordered them to report on the events of her day and she ordered them to lie it was her order they followed. When he ordered them to stay away from the dungeons and she ordered them to bring food and pain potions to the prisoners it was her order they followed. When he ordered them to keep his secrets and she ordered them to tell her everything they overheard in the manor it was her order they followed. They had been absolutely essential to her survival over the years. But the most important service they offered her was freedom. When she needed to get out of the manor she not only had an instant and untraceable way to do so, she also had a loyal squad of lookouts and an equally instant way to return if it turned out Lucius was in the mood to seek her out.

When the cheerily lit house at the end of the lane came into view she quickened her steps, eager to start the plan that had been nearly two decades in the making. Her hand shook as she knocked on the door and when it flew open to reveal the kind smiling face of her sister she almost lost control of her emotions for the second time that night. She was ushered inside and then enveloped in a hug so tight it almost let loose the tears threatening the corners of her eyes.

"Cissy, are you well?" Andromeda pulled back to look into her eyes with a worried crease to her brow, "Has something happened?"

"Mistress is very well!" Padme beamed after closing the door tightly, "I's seen her smiling all evening and kissing her secret ring!" The elf was practically bouncing on her little toes and Narcissa sent her a fond smile. She had never revealed anything of her past or her plans to the elves but she suspected they knew a great deal more than they let on. "I's going to find Mr. Ted and poke him to be making you some tea. I knows you like his the best."

"Dromeda," she waited until Padme had disappeared into the kitchen before she turned back to her sister, her confidante, the only other soul who knew everything she'd done, "It's time."

"Oh!" Andromeda clasped her hand and squeezed, "Do you know who it is?"

"No," but she had her suspicions, "It happened not more than an hour ago."

"I suppose you want to meet with Dumbledore as soon as possible?"

"Yes, tonight if you can manage it. I'm going to need allies."

Her sister arched her eyebrow playfully, "And what am I then?"

Narcissa smiled again, so very grateful not only for a reason to smile but the freedom to do so without fear. "You are my most treasured accomplice and always will be. But in terms of clout and influence I think I'm going to have to rate the man in charge of the Order of the Phoenix a bit higher than you." She sobered a bit then, "Draco and his mate are going to need protection of a kind that neither of us can offer him and once I tell Dumbledore about the prophecy he'll jump at the chance to provide it."

Andromeda shook her head sadly, "I've been telling you for years that Dumbledore would protect both of you just for the reason that you asked him to."

"And I've been telling you that I've been through too much to put that kind of trust in the charity of strangers. It's best altogether if he knows there's an advantage to be had along with the liability so he doesn't get any ideas about sacrificing my son for the greater good. Anyway, it doesn't matter now. I'll speak to him tonight and soon all of this can be over."

"Are you going to tell _him_?"

Narcissa had trouble swallowing past the lump in her throat. "I don't know," she replied softly, "He's lived without me all these years it seems a bit cruel to bring it up now."

Andromeda narrowed her eyes a bit, "What's cruel is leaving him thinking he's in love with a dead woman."

She sucked in a sharp breath around the pain that particular thought caused, "I didn't know that was going to happen," and then the tears did start to well before she could stop them and her sister's eyes softened.

"I know, love. I know you didn't," Andromeda soothed, "But you can't let your fear stop you from making it right. He deserves to know."

"I know," Narcissa forcefully gathered control of herself, "But I know without a doubt that bearing his hatred will break me and I still have work to do. I _will_ tell him... after. I'm not at liberty to fall apart just yet."

Andromeda squeezed her hand again, "He's not going to break you." Narcissa tried to block out that hope. It would be infinitely worse if she let herself entertain the notion that he might ever forgive her.

XXX

After many rounds of questions about soul bonds and Draco's activities over the last few years even Potter seemed to accept the situation.

"And now," Dumbledore said, "I would very much like to know the story of how we came to be here tonight. Miss Granger, if you would please tell your side of it?"

Draco listened as Hermione explained waking to a strange hollow feeling which led to the investigation that revealed her obliviation, the scene in the Potions hallway when she'd realized he had something to do with it, all the tests she'd run on herself, confronting Snape, and finally the spell she found that restored her memory. She started telling the story of that first night and he stared at her in astonished shock as she told the most watered down, abbreviated version of events imaginable. It was unconscionable to let it stand.

"If by 'giving you a bit of trouble' you mean knocking you around so hard he gave you a concussion and attempting to rape you right there in the corridor, then yes, I suppose Nott was giving you a bit of trouble." That set off a whirl of emotion as both Potter and Weasley again jumped to their feet with angry shouts and started in on Snape and Dumbledore for covering something like that up and Hermione shot him an indignant glare.

"Bloody hell, woman, don't look at me like that! How is anyone supposed to protect you when you deliberately hide the danger you're in?"

"They're not!" She flung her hands in the air, "That was rather the point entirely. What exactly do you suppose the two of them are going to do with this information? Sit around calmly planning a strategy as to the best way to deal with it? No, they're going to go off all full of righteous bluster and get themselves hurt. Nott is dangerous in a way they're not prepared for. In a way I'll admit I wasn't prepared for but I certainly am now. I could see it in his eyes. He looked like..." She broke off with a sharp exhale and he could see her chewing on something she didn't want to say. Finally she let it out. "He looked like your father." _His father._ The monster all and sundry reminded him at every turn that he was the spitting image of. For a moment he felt like he would drown in the loathing he felt at those words. Then she pulled him out of the abyss. "In a way that even when you were at your worst you never could."

Her hand came up to cup his face and he wrapped his fingers around her wrist, pressing into the contact and just basking in her very existence. She _saw_ him. This fierce brilliant creature looked at him and saw more than the mask of Lucius Malfoy he'd been wearing his entire life. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to shut the world out and hide somewhere with her. To be tucked away where the war and his name and her friends couldn't touch them. He didn't know how long they stood that way, locked together and saying a thousand things in silence, until Hermione gasped and he realized that it wasn't only them that had gone silent. He looked around and was shocked to find them encased in what appeared to be some sort of shield. Judging by the way Snape and Dumbledore were both waving their wands at it with no discernible effect and he could see but not hear Potter pounding on it with his fists it was not an ordinary shield.

"How did you do this?" Hermione was eyeing the shimmering sphere around them with curious wonder.

"I honestly don't know. I didn't consciously cast anything I just was thinking how much I wanted-"

"What?"

"To be somewhere where nothing could touch us."

The corner of her mouth lifted, "Apparently you created one."

"Hang on, I'll try to take it down."

"No, don't." She lifted her hand towards the curved wall, "I want to run some tests."

"Of course you do."

She waved at everyone on the other side to stop trying to interfere and then attempted to touch it. Her hand went straight through. "Fascinating." She pulled her hand back and grabbed her wand, aiming it at one of the chairs on the other side with a soft, "Wingardium Leviosa" and beaming when it began levitating. After putting the chair down she gestured at Potter indicating he should try to hit her with something.

Draco saw Potter's mouth forming what looked to be a tickling charm but the magic that shot from his wand hit the shield and was absorbed with a pulse of light.

Hermione gestured again, this time with a motion that indicated he should try a harmful spell.

"No," Draco pulled her back and pointed firmly at himself, "I think it's my turn to be test subject."

Potter apparently agreed and cast a slicing hex directly towards his chest. It too dispersed and was absorbed as soon as it hit the wall. Then Hermione was walking through the shield to shout at Potter and he was surprised to find that he could hear her.

XXX

"Harry James Potter what on earth do you think you're doing?"

"You told me to try something dangerous!"

"Yes, but I told you to aim it at me and I meant something that might cause pain not something that might cause bleeding to death on the floor!"

"Hermione." She heard Draco's voice and whirled around to find him still behind the shield.

"I can hear you!" She said in wonder and then looked around and gained confirmation from the look on the others' faces that they still couldn't.

"Remarkable." Dumbledore was looking between them at the shield. "Miss Granger would you please ask Mr. Malfoy to step out? I wish to see if it is self contained or if it will break if neither of you are inside." She did so and when Draco stepped through the wall it stayed in tact. "Absolutely fascinating." The headmaster reached out and knocked on the still completely solid shield. "How did you raise this?"

"I haven't the slightest idea."

"Can you bring it down?"

"Hang on." She saw Draco close his eyes and a moment later the shield dissolved.

"Mr. Malfoy, you have just created something that I have never before seen the likes of. A shield that is not only completely impenetrable by magic, sound, or object, but is specifically attuned to allow the both of you to disregard it. I think it would be wise to spend as much time as possible exploring this new ability and the others that I am sure will manifest in time. I don't precisely know how we're going to accomplish that in secret but that is a problem for a later date. Now, I believe we have careened off course yet again and should attempt to regain our footing." He motioned for everyone to again take their seats. "Would you care to finish the tale of what brought us here?"

Hermione listened as he started with where she had left off. Telling how he'd dealt with Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini (she saw Harry, Ron, and Sirius all share almost identical nods of approval) and carried her to Snape's office to be healed, his decision the next day to take the Soul Deadening potion, his feeling today that something was wrong and the discussion in Dumbledore's office that lead to the theory that she was bonded to him, taking the antidote, realizing she was dying and using her magic to track her through the floo, and then finding her passed out on the floor almost drained of power.

"Yes, I am curious about that." Dumbledore interjected, "Miss Granger should not have been in that state so soon."

"I think it was the potion," Snape said, "It dampened Draco's soul which made it impossible for Miss Granger's magic to find. It reacted as if he'd died, reaching out to follow him and draining her at an alarming rate. While she would eventually have weakened if Draco had been denying the bond naturally, her magic sending stronger and stronger calls, it would have been a much more gradual decline. I do wonder how you seemed perfectly fine in my office this evening." His tone seemed to imply he knew exactly how and was chastising her for foolishness.

She winced inwardly, "Heavy glamours and multiple doses of Pepper Up."

"Hermione you promised!" Ron's outrage burst from him and both he and Harry were now glowering at her.

"I can see we're going to have to discuss your propensity to see danger as it applies to everyone else around you and completely disregard it in relation to yourself." She felt the low tone of Draco's voice wrapping itself around her and she knew she had to retaliate or he'd be attempting to lock her in a room under one of those shields until the war was over.

"Yes, well the next time you find yourself with an overwhelming urge to kiss someone you think probably wants to murder you we'll see if your need for answers outweighs your sense of self preservation. Besides none of it would have happened if you'd just trusted me in the first place instead of having Professor Snape obliviate me."

His eyes narrowed, "Merlin's bloody beard, woman, it had nothing to do with trusting you! It had to do with not adding further problems to your life. Not to mention a giant target on your back. I was trying to protect you!"

He didn't want a target on her back? The absurdity of that statement caused a fit of hysteria in her and she couldn't contain her giggles.

"What could possibly be funny?" He was not amused.

"I'm sorry but did you just hear yourself? You don't want a target on my back? I'm the muggle born best friend of the Chosen One. I'm fairly certain I was born with a target on my back." She sobered and went to stand directly in front of him. "I know I've done a poor job of showing it the past few days but I promise I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself. I need you to fight at my side, not sweep me behind you."

He clenched his jaw but he nodded. "I make no promises not to stand in front of you but I will promise not to do so without your knowledge."

She smiled. "I can work with that."

"An excellent compromise," Dumbledore interjected, "And now I think there is just one last bit of business. Draco, I must ask that you reconsider your stance on anonymity and let me introduce you to the Order."

XXX


	9. Chapter 9

**Harry Potter and all of its settings and characters belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

Draco was in some weird sort of hell. He was sure of it. Sometime today he'd died and what was happening to him now was atonement for every wretched thing he'd ever done. He was to stay in this state of knowing he was bonded to the woman he loved but never being alone with her. It would just go on and on in a never ending series of groups of people interfering with unfavorable opinions about his character. He pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to squeeze the headache that the current group was inciting into submission.

They were in the dining room now and quite a few members of the Order, curiously minus the man responsible for calling them there in the first place, had assembled and jumped into an immediate and incredibly loud argument. About him. He supposed it was something that there was an argument and not just a unanimous consensus to incarcerate him.

Snape and Black had both stood up almost simultaneously to protest when Moody suggested it and the shock of seeing the two of them agree on any situation had apparently given the rest of them pause. McGonagall and the one they called Tonks, which he realized must be the cousin he'd never met, had taken up with him, to the great displeasure of Moody, and he also had a split of Weasleys with the twins on his end and the two oldest brothers and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley on the other. Lupin had looked at Hermione's hand tucked in his and while not throwing his voice into the mix had gone to stand next to his wife, while Shacklebolt had sided with Moody. It was a bit astonishing really to realize his side outnumbered Moody's even considering that no one in the room seemed to count Potter, Weasley, or Hermione for some reason. They certainly didn't listen to a word any of them said.

"How can we possibly put our trust in a Malfoy?" Moody growled, "It's bad enough we have to deal with Snape but this is beyond the pale."

"And you think he what?" Black jumped in, "Somehow tricked Dumbledore? And what about Hermione?"

"I don't see Dumbledore, do you? Where is he if this was his idea? And as for Miss Granger I'm afraid we can't trust a word that comes out of her mouth at this point," He tapped his normally whirling eye, which had been laser focused on Draco since he entered the room, "I can see his magic all over her. He's obviously done something to her."

"You great hypocrite! If you can see that his magic is all over her then you should also be able to see that her magic is equally all over him. And what exactly does your eye make of that?"

Mrs. Weasley gasped and both of Shacklebolt's eyebrows shot up but Moody was not impressed.

"Oh, and now you'd have us believing in fairy tales?"

"Really, Alastor," the voice of Dumbledore came from the doorway and silenced the room, "With all the things you can see I would think you'd be more open than most to believe in the extraordinary." He looked about and took in the scene, "I can see you started without me. I must apologize for my tardiness but it appears we were missing an important member of our party that I only just discovered." He turned to look over his shoulder, "Madam, if you please?"

Draco jumped to his feet at the sight of his mother entering the room but did not have a chance to question her as her appearance seemed to completely unhinge Moody.  
"No!" he shouted hoarsely, "I won't have any more bloody Malfoys running about! Incarcerous!"

Draco leapt in front of his mother expecting to feel ropes cutting into him any moment and looked around in confusion when none came. Everyone on his side of the room was now encased in that same strange shield he'd raised earlier. Except this time he was certain he hadn't done it.

His eyes locked on Hermione and found her staring at the shimmering wall in satisfaction.

"How did you do it?"

"You mean Hermione did this?" One of the twins asked in awe and then looked at his brother and they both grinned, "Wicked."

"I used your magic," she replied, "I was trying to shield us as soon as I saw your mother, just in case _someone,_ "she glared at Moody, "got their wands in a twist but I was thinking too hard and my magic couldn't sort it out fast enough so I used yours. It already knew what to do, see?" He could tell she was in the middle of a rapid fire thought process that meant she was incredibly excited about something. "I didn't know what to do but I could do it anyway because _your_ magic did. Do you have any idea what that could mean? Oh, I can't wait until we can get out of here! I have so many things I want to do with you."

He almost groaned at the thought of quite a number of things he wanted to do with her, none of them having anything whatsoever to do with magic. He saw the moment she realized what she'd just said and that charming blush crawled across her face and down her neck, making him want to see how far down it went. _Focus!_ This was so not the time for that.

"Would someone mind explaining what the hell is going on here?" Moody's angry shout brought everyone around to face him.

"Oi! How come we can hear him?" Weasley piped in, "Hey! Can you hear us over there?" he shouted across the room.

"Of course we can hear you! What kind of nonsense is this?"

"I think that was me." Hermione answered, "I wanted the shield to protect us but I also had some choice things I wanted to say to him so I think it took my wishes into account. Speaking of which-" she rounded on Moody with a dangerous glint in her eye he found insanely attractive, "You, Alastor Moody, have made a very grave error. You are entitled to your opinion and even have the right to voice it but the next time you raise your wand to me or mine in anger I will not be content merely to block you. I seem to have come into an inordinate amount of power recently and I'm still not really sure what my limits are. So right now you are going to sit down and listen to everything my mate, his mother, and anyone else I see fit has to say without so much as raising your voice again, or I will use you as a test subject for all the things I suspect I am now capable of."

It was an impressive speech but Draco suspected what had the man who'd fought in two wars and faced some of the world's most dangerous criminals, blinking rapidly a few times with his good eye before sheathing his wand was the fact that she was hovering about a foot off the floor and red sparks were shooting from the ends of her hair.

He was fairly certain she didn't even realize she was floating until he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her back to earth. She turned in his arms with a startled, "Oh!" and the avenging angel was gone, replaced by the pragmatic bookworm, "Well that might be problematic."

He started to laugh, the first real laugh he could remember in months and wasn't surprised that a few others had joined him.

Both Weasley twins hit their knees at the same time with matching looks of adoration on their faces.

"Problematic? Hermione you are a goddess."

"Yes, please tell us you did not just say mate."

"Because it would be terribly unfair if you were already taken when we just recently discovered our undying love for you."

"Just so, Fred. I think we should seriously consider proposing marriage. Have you got anything you can transfigure into a ring?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at the twins and grinned, but Mrs. Weasley was looking horrified.

"Boys! Get up this instant and explain that you were only joking! Honestly, do you want to lose your heads?" She shot Draco a nervous glance as if expecting sparks to start flying from him at any moment in jealous retaliation.

"Don't be daft, Mum, everyone knows we're joking!"

That was not at all the way to deal with an angry Mrs. Weasley. Fire was spitting from her eyes and both twins blanched a bit. "Don't you dare speak to me about daft when I suspect you just romantically propositioned a girl involved in a soul bond! Our Hermione just levitated in anger at Alastor and she _likes_ him! What do you suppose the son of Lucius Malfoy might do when angry?"

It was time for some damage control. If he read her correctly she would respond best to a bit of dramatic formality.

"Madam," Draco stepped forward and offered her a courtly bow, "Please let me assure you that my resemblance to my father is only skin deep. Your family will never have cause to fear me. Hermione feels great affection for all of you and I would sooner carve out my own heart than cause her displeasure. I must also profess that you have earned my eternal gratitude for being there to show her kindness when I was unable to. You have created the kind of family that all wizard kind should attempt to emulate and I am pleased beyond words that you have offered her a place in it."

"Well that's-" she blinked, clearly flustered and he saw a faint blush rise in her cheeks, "Lovely. Just lovely, dear."

Mrs. Weasley beamed at Draco and he saw the twins eye him speculatively.

"Did you see that, Fred?"

"I did indeed, George. We're going to have to study him and learn his ways."

"I suspect that might be wise, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore broke in with a smile, "Now, Miss Granger, if you would please lower this remarkable shield so we can all take our seats? I would very much like to get back to explaining my tardiness and introducing our guest."

XXX

Narcissa looked around the table from the chair she had chosen quite specifically to limit eye contact with the one man she now seemed to fear above all others. Too bad limited eye contact meant close physical contact. Why had she thought it smart to be _right next_ to him? _Weakness_ she cursed herself. She had wanted to be close to him and so had convinced herself it was necessary. One seat over would have been much more prudent. She thought it funny that he himself had taught her the tricks that were currently keeping him out of her mind, but she doubted he would share her amusement. He wasn't even aware that he had done so.

She was barely listening as Dumbledore explained to the group around them that Draco had been involved for a number of years and it was on his intel that two out of the five horcruxes they'd so far destroyed had been found. Even Alastor Moody had backed off at that point although most of them had been content to trust her son just on the merit of his soul bond to Hermione Granger. Dumbledore had them both hold up their wrists to show the mark and that had been the end of that particular argument.

She however, was still getting more than one suspicious look but as she'd honestly been prepared for a few days of imprisonment and interrogation she could deal with a few unfriendly eyes.

After she'd explained everything to Dumbledore earlier in his office she'd told him plainly that she would do whatever it took to prove herself. She needed these people to trust her so that they would trust her son. She had not been prepared for Dumbledore to not only already know about the bond but to inform her that Draco was even now at an emergency meeting of the Order, waiting to be vouched for. That had not been part of her plan. She'd wanted to be introduced first, to pave his way by explaining the prophecy and his childhood so that when he had to face these people they would already be on his side. She'd been a bit frantic when she realized that the person who represented his best chance for not being attacked on sight had been delayed in his arrival by her, but it had all turned out rather well. Now it seemed she was in the position of being vouched for by Draco, and surprisingly, by the remarkable girl fate had chosen for him.

Hermione Granger was something of a wonder. When she'd so impressively told Alastor Moody that he would listen to Draco and herself or suffer the consequences she'd been overcome with fondness for the floating witch. The girl trusted Draco so implicitly that she was willing to extend her protection to a woman she by all rights should hate. The look on Draco's face, the wonder that someone could have such faith in him tore a bit at her heart and then Miss Granger sealed forever her place in it when she made Draco laugh. Narcissa hadn't been able to do so in years and it was a sight she would give a piece of her battered soul to see again.

Dumbledore turned to indicate her with a smile and she steadied herself for what she knew was coming, "Now then, we at last get to the reason for my late arrival. Madam Malfoy came to me this evening with some information that she wished to share. She has graciously agreed to be dosed with Veritaserum so as to verify her intentions. I must ask that you refrain from shouting questions at her while she is under its influence. I and only I will question her. Anyone who disobeys me in this will find themselves removed from the room." He came to stand beside her and she opened her mouth feeling each of the three drops hit her tongue, then he retook his place at the head of the table. Everyone waited silently and she could tell when it had taken effect as she had to restrain her tongue lest it run away with all the things she so desperately wanted to say to the man sitting next to her. Thankfully he'd given up his probes into her mind because at that point she was fairly certain she would have welcomed him in.

"First please state your name for the record. I think we've all had enough of Polyjuice impersonators to last us a lifetime." She heard Moody grunt at that and figured he was entitled.

"Narcissa Cassiopeia Malfoy."

"Excellent. Do you swear that what you intend to tell us tonight is the truth?"

"I do."

"Do you now or have you ever served Voldemort?"

"No."

The room as a whole started at that and she heard Sirius mumble, "Well this certainly is a day for revelations."

Draco caught her eye and shot her a questioning look. She knew he'd always thought she'd had a change of heart. She'd never told him anything of her life before she'd married Lucius. Tonight was going to be painful for him and she wished she'd been able to talk to him alone before dragging it into the open but wishing was useless to her now.

"Do you now or have you ever agreed with Voldemort's actions, philosophy, or social ideology?"

"No."

"Splendid. I think that certainly covers it. Do you all agree?" He looked around the room and everyone nodded silently, still in shock. He came back to her, administered the antidote, and again took his seat. "Now, would you be so kind as to repeat what you told me earlier this evening?"

She took a deep breath and prepared to tell the story she had only revealed to one other person before tonight to a room full of strangers, the man she loved and had so greatly wronged, and the son she had brought into this world knowing full well how much it would try to crush him.

"Towards the end of my seventh year at Hogwarts something happened that tore apart all my carefully laid plans of escaping this life. You are all aware of two prophecies Sybil Trelawney made regarding the Dark Lord. What you are not aware of is that those were not the first and second prophecies but the second and third. The first she made when she was still a student, in an unused bathroom on the second floor of the castle, to me. I have preserved the memory and Professor Dumbledore tells me he has a way for the room to view it."

She ignored all the eyes on her as she handed over the small vial containing the silvery wisps of the two minutes that had changed the entire course of her life. Dumbledore waved his wand and the image of her seventeen year old self walking demurely into the bathroom, eyes locked forward and void of emotion appeared on the table in front of them. She closed the door behind her and after carefully checking the room for other occupants, broke into a joyous round of whooping, spinning round in circles and hopping with glee. The current Narcissa cringed as she realized she'd started the memory too early. She'd meant to pull it from Sybil's entrance, not her own. A nervous sort of dread swept through her as she remembered what she'd done next and she prayed to every god she could think of that the memory would be fuzzy enough to distort it. She could talk her way round it as long as he didn't get a good look at the ring. His grandmother's ring.

Her younger self stopped spinning and looked at herself in the mirror, grinning like a loon. "I'm getting married," the girl she used to be whispered in awe and brought her hand to her face. Narcissa felt the air return to her lungs as she saw that while she could make out that there was a ring, it was indeed too fuzzy to see any details. Sadness quickly swept away her relief as she sat and watched her younger self smiling and planning a future she would never get to have. She clutched her hands together under the table, running her fingers over the ring she'd glamoured invisible but had never been without and fought hard to keep her face impassive.

Finally the scene took them where she'd intended and an eighteen year old Sybil Trelawney came bursting into the bathroom, tears streaming down her face and a dramatic tirade spewing from her mouth that cut off abruptly when she spotted Narcissa standing by the mirrors.

"What are you doing in here?" Sybil sniffed.

The younger Narcissa's entire demeanor had changed as soon as the door had started to open and she was once more the epitome of a stone faced Slytherin. "Nothing that is any of your business." She began to walk around the girl but Sybil's hand shot out and grabbed hold of her arm. Narcissa started as Sybil's face went slack and her eyes fixed blankly on a spot over her head. The voice that came out of her then was not anything at all like the high breathy tone she normally used. It was deep and resonated with power.

 **"A bond of souls will emerge when the hour is nearing the final conflict of the Dark Lord and the one with power to vanquish him. One soul will come from the union of the houses of Black and Malfoy. One will join us from the world the darkness threatens. Both must fight or the Dark Lord will be victorious, and the Chosen One will be no more."**

Then as suddenly as it had come on the trance ended.

"Well you don't have to be rude about it!" Sybil huffed and flounced over to the sinks, leaving the shell shocked Narcissa standing in her wake.

The memory ended and dissolved over the table full of equally shell shocked people.

XXX

Draco stared at the table with a sick sort of feeling twisting inside him as he realized he didn't know the first thing about the woman he called Mother, and that it was mostly his own fault. He'd made assumptions about her life and had never bothered to question them. His version of her had grown up towing the pureblood line, made a respectable match to please her family and somewhere along the way had a change of heart. This version of her had never served the Dark Lord, had been planning to escape with a man she loved and had instead sacrificed everything and trapped herself in a marriage to a man who took pleasure in causing her pain.

So that _he_ would exist.

She'd had him for the purpose of creating a weapon against the Dark Lord, had on purpose brought a child into a world she'd hated to be raised by a monster, had lied to him all these years. Every bedtime story, every game, everything about his childhood now seemed to have a lurking ulterior motive.

He stood stiffly and began walking towards the closest door, not caring where it led just knowing he needed to get out of this room.

He found himself in a kitchen and paced the floor a few times before leaning against a counter top and hanging his head.

"Draco." Her voice, once an unparalleled source of comfort, now set him on edge.

"I'm not sure it's wise for me to speak right now." He knew he was not fully in control. He was managing to keep a lid on any unintentional magical outbursts but it was a close thing.

"That's fine you don't have to speak," she replied softly, "but please at least just listen. There's something I need you to know." He nodded and clenched his jaw, waiting for the excuses.

"I love you."

That was not what he'd expected.

"After I heard that prophecy I thought about pretending I hadn't. For about five whole minutes I considered just ignoring it and running, _making_ him see that he had to run with me." She smiled a small wavering smile, "That was the only thing we ever argued about. He wanted to stay and fight, and I wanted nothing more than to be somewhere where nothing could touch us." She paused and he felt the similarities of their wishes pressing in on him, "But then I thought of you. The child that would come and I knew I had to stay. It had to be me. Because if it wasn't me it would have been Bellatrix."

Draco felt himself flinch at that and suddenly all the reasons for his anger no longer applied. He'd been so caught up in the thought that she'd been playing out a strategy that it never occurred to him that the prophecy would have been fulfilled with or without her. And without her was infinitely worse.

"Lucius was the last of his line and the only unmarried female Blacks were me and Bella. I couldn't fathom a child in their hands, the kind of torment that child's soul would face. At least if it was me I could offer protection and try to soften the blow of having Lucius for a father. I didn't expect to love you. I was so afraid I would look at you and see all the things I had given up, but from the moment I felt your magic stirring inside me you have been my son first and everything else second. Having you, knowing you, watching you grow was worth every sacrifice and if I had it to do over again I would still choose you. I understand your anger, you're entitled to it and if you don't want to speak to me I will respect your wishes but never doubt that I love you, that I have always loved you."

He looked at her, this woman who'd given up everything and endured pain beyond reason to give him a life not completely dominated by darkness and somehow didn't hate him for all the things she'd lost, and marveled at her strength. She had given up a life of love and freedom for one of fear and torment and somehow hadn't let it break her.

He took both of her hands in his and squeezed, now needing her to know something.

"I am proud to be your son."

She choked back a sob and wrapped him in a fierce hug, holding him for a long moment before pulling back and brushing her tears from his shoulder with a watery smile.

He didn't know what possessed him then but the question that suddenly filled his head came pouring out. "Who was it you were going to marry?" As soon as the words left his mouth he wanted to kick himself for the pain that flashed in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter," she was visibly trying to control the tone of her voice, "He's...gone."

XXX

Narcissa comforted her conscience with the excuse that it wasn't precisely a lie. The man who loved her didn't exist anymore.

Because she'd deliberately obliviated all traces of herself from his mind.

XXX


	10. Chapter 10

**Harry Potter and all of its settings and characters belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

Draco stepped from the fireplace into Hermione's room, his eyes scanning until he found her, slumped over her desk, fast asleep. When he and his mother had finally emerged after a long discussion of everything from her childhood to the aunt he'd never met to the plan she'd been waiting to act on all this time, Dumbledore had been the only one left in the dining room. He offered to escort his mother out and told Draco how to find Hermione.

His lips curled into a smile as he walked to her and saw what she'd been working on before succumbing to the exhaustion that must have come from two days of continuous Pepper Up potion, unusual magic, and what he assumed was little to no sleep. She had been organizing her thoughts on what had gotten her so excited after she'd raised the shield. There was a page in her looping handwriting sticking out from under her head.

THEORY: Common Magical Knowledge \- Because our magic is merged it is possible that we both possesses the ability to perform all spells and magical skills known by either party.

Possible testing sites:

Room of requirement (too well known?)

My room (too small?)

Professor Snape's quarters (too risky?)

Logical order of testing:

1\. Exclusive Spells

2\. Wandless Magic

3\. Occlumency

4\. Something I can do (?)

5\. Legilimency

6\. Flying

Underneath that last one she had doodled a picture of herself on a broomstick which was now zooming across the bottom of the page. He brushed her hair from her face softly and bit his tongue to keep himself from laughing at the little ink letters that were smeared across her forehead. He couldn't leave her like that or she'd wake up with a terrible crick in her neck but he was loathe to wake her. As gently as he could he levitated her from the desk chair and put her on the bed. Once she was tucked in he sat and watched her sleep. It was far too early to risk sneaking through the middle of the Gryffindor common room so he settled in to wait, and while he waited he contemplated the sharp turn his life had taken over the last few hours.

A small sound brought him from his thoughts and his brow creased in worry as she tossed her head to the side still caught in sleep. He rose, thinking she was having a nightmare and preparing to wake her when another sound fell from her now parted lips and stopped him in his tracks. She _moaned._ And it was decidedly _not_ in pain. He stood transfixed as he watched her body arch and little breathy sighs now punctuated her breathing. She writhed as if under the hands of a lover and the sight of it quickly stole his sanity. When his name tumbled from her lips he started to reach for her. She was dreaming of _him_. That was-

Not natural.

Cold clarity slid down his spine and he pulled his hand back with a barely contained curse. It was not natural, this sudden desire. He thought back to what she'd said earlier. Something about seeing how he would deal with having an overwhelming urge to kiss someone who probably wanted to kill him. An overwhelming urge. This wasn't _her._ It was the bond. Most likely his magic was creating it. Which meant no matter how much he ached for her, he couldn't touch her. Not like this. It would be the same as taking a girl who was drunk or dosed with lust potion.

 _Fuck._ He fisted his hands in his hair and pulled sharply as she moaned his name again. He had to get out of here. His usually endless depths of control were in dangerously short supply and he paced, trying to think of how he could get back to his room without being seen. He was seriously considering forgetting about his room and using her fireplace to go back to Black's house just to get away when he spun and saw a door that hadn't been there on his last round of pacing. Desperate to escape he crossed the room and grasped the handle, just able to think clearly enough to open it slowly with his wand at the ready. What he found was a room he knew for a fact shouldn't exist.

It was sort of like a common room in that it had a fireplace and comfortable looking furniture, but it was about four times the size of a normal common room and it was filled with so much more. There were bookshelves everywhere, a large clear area with mats and dummies he assumed was meant for sparring, a small kitchen, a potions worktop, and several more doors. After ascertaining that no one else was there he pulled the door to Hermione's bedroom closed and breathed a sigh of relief at the barrier between them before setting out to explore this impossibility.

Hermione's bedroom wall was the outer wall of Gryffindor tower. She had a window that looked out over the courtyard. This was certainly not supposed to be here. He opened one of the first doors and found a bathroom the would put the Prefects' bath to shame. The second door led to what appeared to be the back of the Potions storeroom. The third door led to his bedroom. _Bloody hell._ He leaned his hand against the door frame, staring in shock at the rumpled bed he'd left this morning. _Well that certainly takes care of her problem of finding a safe workspace._ He realized she might be a bit apprehensive to wake to a door that shouldn't be there and searched around for something to write on. When a piece of parchment and quill appeared on the table next to him he spared a moment to wonder if this day could get any stranger before penning a hasty note and slipping it under her door.

He was almost positively not going to get any sleep tonight.

XXX

Hermione woke to a strange mixture of contentment and angst. She reached out sleepily for something she thought should be next to her and was disappointed to find the space empty. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked in confusion as she realized she was still fully clothed. _Why did I-_ Her thoughts snapped abruptly into focus as she took in the notes on her desk where she by rights ought to still be and the sunshine streaming in through her window. She must have fallen asleep... waiting for Draco. She groaned as she realized he must have found her at her desk and tucked her in before leaving. _Damn it all._ The only chance they'd had to be alone together and she'd let sleep take her.

She flung herself back on her bed in frustration. It was Monday morning, which meant an entire day of lessons with him where she had to pretend to despise him and no way to safely communicate about how they were going to meet. Her head fell to the side and she froze at the sight of a door that should not exist.

She sat up slowly, pulling her legs over the side of the bed and staring at the door that logic would suggest led into thin air. A small bit of parchment caught her eye and she jumped up to snatch it from the floor. Draco's handwriting stared up at her.

 **Meet me behind this door that shouldn't exist tonight after dinner. I think you'll find it the perfect place to test your theory.**

 **Yours quite literally,**

 **Draco**

 **P.S. Don't believe a single thing I say to you today.**

She smiled at that and went to reach for the handle when it abruptly disappeared. She cursed and ran her hand over the wall but didn't get much time to investigate as she suddenly heard the chime indicating that breakfast was about to begin and jumped at the realization that unless she used a bit of magic and started right now she was going to be late. Hermione Granger was never late and considering she now had a very good reason to not draw any unwanted attention to herself she was now quite glad that the door had disappeared. As soon as she thought it she turned to start summoning her school things and saw the door reappear out of the corner of her eye.

"Cheeky," she said with a small smile and could have sworn she felt a surge of amusement that seemed to be seeping up into her from the floor. She brushed that strange thought from her mind and rushed to get ready. She had enough strangeness to be handled without adding more.

Seven minutes later, with the help of charms and flat out running, she made it to the hallway leading to the great hall and composed herself before following a few straggling students to the doors. She felt a bit nervous. So much had changed since yesterday that she was afraid it would somehow show on her skin- _Great Merlin's ghost!_ She abruptly changed course, almost careening into a third year Hufflepuff boy.

"Sorry!" she called over her shoulder as she hurried back down the hall and ducked around the corner into an alcove. She peered about, making sure she was alone before she pulled up the sleeve of her sweater to reveal the mark on her wrist. She tapped it with her wand and muttered a concealment charm.

She headed back towards the great hall, feeling rather pleased with herself for not only remembering that dangerous bit of information before she'd gone to push her sleeves up in Potions but for that fact that she would still be on time, when the dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood came from behind her and killed her short lived sense of relief.

"Ooooh! You've finally found each other!"

Hermione spun around, trying to keep the fear from her face but apparently doing a terrible job as Luna rushed to assure her. "Oh, don't worry, no one else can see it," she smiled as if that was a perfectly natural thing to say and turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Hermione grabbed Luna's arm and steered her away from the doors, glancing around nervously, "Luna, what exactly do you mean by that?"

"You and Draco Malfoy," Luna said as if puzzled by Hermione's lack of understanding, "You found each other."

"Merlin, Luna keep your voice down!" Hermione hissed and looked around again, "That is quite possibly the most dangerous information in this castle. How on earth do you know that?"

"Your souls are the same color." Luna smiled again, "I've been waiting ages for you to figure it out and today there's a link trailing from you into the great hall so I knew you finally did."

Hermione was dumbstruck. "You can see our souls?"

"Oh, not just yours. I can see everyone's soul. It's a spell my mother invented before she died. I do it every morning before breakfast so I can see all the colors. It's quite soothing. Professor Snape's is my favorite, although I suspect he thinks I'm a bit daft what with all the times he's caught me staring."

"Luna, does anyone else know about this spell?" When Luna shook her head Hermione smiled in relief, "Do you think you could teach it to me?"

XXX

Luna's soul was a bright beaming yellow, Parvati's was a deep forrest green, Neville's was burnt orange, and Draco's was indeed the exact same shade of crimson that hers was. That was as far as she got after walking into the great hall only one minute late before the sheer brightness of all the colors mixing in the room made her a bit dizzy and she'd hastily countered the spell. Soothing was not at all how she'd describe it. Testing on that definitely required a room with far less people and though she'd been sorely tempted to try again during Potions just to see what Luna meant about Professor Snape's soul she refrained. Being distracted while brewing an explosive potion was not in anyone's best interest and she'd already had her hands full trying to keep her eyes from fixing on Draco who was doing a far better job of feigning disinterest and disdain than she was.

Finally the day that seemed as if it would never end drew to a close and she was able to retreat into her bedroom. She stared for a moment at the door that should by all rights lead straight out into the open air high above the courtyard with a mixture of excitement and nerves before she grasped the handle and pushed it open.

XXX


	11. Chapter 11

**Harry Potter and all of its characters and settings belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

Draco was wrong. Last night hadn't been hell. Last night was a peaceful walk around the lake compared to _this._ They were alone, she was close enough that he could smell the fragrance of her hair, and he couldn't fucking touch her. As soon as she'd appeared in the doorway with a shy smile he'd been trying to keep her focused on her theory so he might have a chance to retain his sanity. For the past hour they'd explored the room, discussed possible reasons for its existence and started testing spells and wandless magic and he had been failing miserably in his attempt to maintain a neutral reaction to her presence.

"Ok, that's it." Her eyes held an exasperated glint, "You're either going to tell me what's wrong or I'm going to skip ahead to number five on the list. I'm fairly certain if I use _your_ legilimency you won't be able to occlude against it."

"Nothing's wrong." He said quickly, not wanting anything to do with this conversation.

"Oh, yes, that's very convincing." She rolled her eyes. "Why don't we try this again?" She stepped into him and he abruptly stepped back. "That. Tell me why you practically flinch every time I come near you. If I couldn't feel the level of want coming off of you it would have already given me a complex."

He ground his teeth, praying for the strength to see this through. "I'm trying for once in my life to do something right by you."

"By not touching me?"

He nodded.

"You're going to have to walk me through the logic of that."

"Because you don't really want me!" It exploded out of him before he could stop it.

"What kind of idiocy is that? I _know_ you can feel that's not true." He saw that charming blush creep over her nose but she didn't lose her scowl.

"That isn't you," he fisted his hands in his hair to keep them away from her, "That's the bond and my magic manipulating your feelings."

Her face softened. "Is that what you think?"

"I've wanted you for years. You've wanted me for four days. What else am I supposed to think?"

He watched her struggling with something and that blush started to spread. "The bond didn't create my desire for you," she said softly, "It simply gave me permission to feel it."

He stared at her, not allowing himself to take in what she had just implied.

"I've been dreaming of you," she continued, "exclusively, to the detriment of my sanity, since the first time you called me a mudblood."

His whole body froze with a mixture of disbelief and desperate hope.

"When I was thirteen they were of long kisses and walks in the moonlight. As I got older they grew... more intense." She turned from him then, the blush completely taking over her face.

When he finished swallowing his tongue his feet were carrying him towards her. There wasn't a force on the planet that could keep him from touching her now.

XXX

Hermione didn't hear him move but suddenly she could feel his presence at her back and she froze. His breath teased the skin of her neck and a delightful shiver swept down her spine.

"Tell me." The low gravelly tone of his voice wrapped around her body as his hands settled low on her hips and she couldn't speak. Heat that had banked but never fully died was now flooding through her setting her nerve endings screaming for his touch. His lips brushed whisper soft against the skin right under her ear and she tilted her head to offer him more.

"Do I kiss you here?" His mouth trailed down the line of her neck and she managed to nod just before his teeth scraped gently over her skin and she arched into him with a gasp. He did it again, harder this time and she moaned, goosebumps breaking out all over her skin.

"How enlightening." His fingers slid under the hem of her sweater until his hands were wrapped around the bare skin at her waist. "Tell me, Hermione," He rumbled directly into her ear, "Do I lay you down and gently stroke every inch of your body until you beg for me to be inside you?" His thumbs trailed lightly up and down the sides of her spine for a moment and then his fingers tightened around her and jerked her flush against his body, "Or do I press you up against a wall and take you, leaving the marks of my possession on your skin?"

She managed to force out a breathy, "Both" before he spun her in his arms, a hand wrapping itself in her hair and and an arm banding around her waist. He held her still, inches separating their lips and his eyes burned into hers.

"Show me." She could feel him pressing against her mind and she let him in, pulling forward all of the images she'd locked away over the years and letting him see everything.

XXX

 _Holy blistering fuck._

She was sprawled naked on a green and silver bedspread, writhing under his hands. She was up against a wall in the Potions classroom, both legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust into her. She was straddling him as he sat in her favorite chair in the library, rolling her hips at slow torturous pace. She was bent over a desk in the Defense classroom jerking from the force of his thrusts and begging him to take her harder. She was on her knees before him, his hands fisting tightly in her hair as she took him into her mouth.

His control snapped before he'd seen even a fraction of the images and he came back to the sight of her eyes bright with desire just inches from his. They stayed like that for a moment, breathing a bit erratically and savoring the tension wrapping around them like Devil's Snare.

He forcedly reminded his brain how to form words. "You dreamed _that_ when I was-"

"I know," her voice was shaky but still had that trademark Granger bite, "I regularly checked myself for brain deformities."

XXX

His face split into a devastating grin before he lowered his head to hers, "As well you should have."

And then he was kissing her and things like words and breathing became distant memories. There was only the feeling of his lips claiming hers and his body wrapping around her. She didn't even realize he was moving her until her back came into contact with the cold stone of the castle and he pressed himself fully against her, causing a small hum of pleasure to escape her throat. She had never felt anything as sinful as being pinned against a wall by Draco Malfoy.

Sliding one of his legs in between her knees, he wrapped one hand firmly around her hip. He pulled her to him until she was straddling his leg and she cried out as she came into contact with the hard length of his thigh. He rocked her slowly against him and pleasure engulfed her until she lost all control of her body. She ground herself against him mindlessly and he rocked her faster, escalating in time with the ferocity of his lips on hers. Suddenly she broke from his kiss as her back arched uncontrollably and she shuddered and came apart in his arms.

He kissed her neck softly as she came down and she was grateful he was holding her up because she felt as though she'd melt into a puddle at his feet if left to her own devises. Delightful little shivers were cascading down her spine from where his lips were teasing her skin, making it hard to catch her breath.

"I want you in my bed." The low growling tone of his voice shot straight to her core and she nodded in agreement.

Her arms came around his neck as he swept her into his arms and strode purposefully toward the door leading to his room, neither of them pausing to question when it opened on its own. He set her on the bed and started peeling her clothes from her body, stopping to trail his fingers and lips over each new bit of exposed skin causing goosebumps to follow in his wake and little breathy pleas to fall from her lips. When she was fully naked he pulled back to stare down at her and the molten silver quality burning in his eyes made her heart flip. Then he was pressing her down into the mattress and the feeling of his fully clothed form sliding against her skin was pure decadence. She ached for him with a desperate need to be claimed but he seemed intent on a slow torturous route. When she reached for him he captured both of her hands and pinned them to the bed above her head.

He took her mouth with a forced gentleness, a rigid control he was maintaining that she desperately wanted to crack. She didn't want him in control. She wanted him lost in her. She broke away and muttered a charm, utilizing her new found skill with wandless magic, and his clothes were suddenly no longer a barrier between them. Her skin tingled at every point of contact with his. He hissed with a clenched jaw and she felt all his muscles lock.

"Please," her voice was rough with lust, "Please don't make me wait any longer to be yours."

He aligned their bodies and slid into her with one long stroke, her name like a curse on his tongue, and she gasped at the exquisite pleasure of finally having him inside of her. They stayed that way for a moment, locked together and reveling in the contact before he pulled back slowly and did it again. And again. Carefully, slowly driving her out of her mind, bringing her to the edge but keeping her from falling over until she wanted to scream.

Then his voice wrapped itself around her with a low command. "Look at me."

Her eyes snapped open and locked on his, her breath hitching at the intensity swirling in his gaze.

"I want to watch you come apart."

And with that he thrust into her, ripping a cry of release from her as she exploded around him. He continued to thrust, finally surrendering control as she pulsed around him and he followed her over the edge.

XXX


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Harry Potter and all of its characters and settings belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

"Brain deformities, eh?" Draco looked down at the girl who's head was resting on his chest.

"Yep," Hermione replied, "I was fairly certain there had to be some. I scanned myself for tumors. I even pretended I fell and hit my head so Madam Pomfrey would run a full brain diagnostic."

He smiled, imagining a thirteen year old version of Hermione pointing her wand at her own head, trying to figure out why he was in it.

"I think I understand it now," she mused, "Something in my subconscious knew what you were to me, what you were supposed to be, and needed to make it impossible for me to completely shut you out. Every time you sneered at me and said something deplorable there were flashes of you kissing me and telling me I belonged to you. It was like an internal defense mechanism against your mask."

Her face grew serious and he tensed, waiting for her to finally take him to task for all of those deplorable moments.

"So now I think I have a handle on pretty much everything. Your cover, the soul bond, and why I was dreaming of you but there's still one thing I really need you to explain to me."

"Anything."

"How in the name of Merlin's beard do you know who Darth Vader is?"

Draco laughed for the second time in as many days and took a moment to savor the fact that this time it didn't feel quite so foreign before delving into the answer.

"Every summer since I turned eleven I've been spending a month with Severus at his house. Ostensibly so he could mentor me in the Dark Arts. It's tradition in old pure blood families to choose godfathers based on who could offer the most knowledge. That was how my mother convinced my father to choose him over Nott Senior. Even then no one could argue that Severus was second only to Voldemort in that regard. And he did teach me quite a bit about the Dark Arts. I learned a few flashy spells to satisfy my father and a condensed lifetime of ways to defend myself against them. He taught me how to survive. But he also taught me how to live. That first summer while he was busy brewing and I was supposed to be asleep I went poking around the attic and found a dusty box full of movies. I had no idea what they were of course but it was clear from the cogs that they were supposed to connect to something so I used a compatibility spell and one of them went flying across the room to insert itself into what I later learned was a television. The damned thing turned on at full bloody volume and I thought Severus was going to murder me for touching his stuff but he just spent a minute looking from me to the television before he said, 'Well, you can't start with that one.' and proceeded to change out the tape, apparently I'd put in Return of the Jedi, and conjure a couch. We stayed up all night watching all three movies, and every summer after that we watched them again at least once, and eventually I made it through the rest of what was in the box. I got a fairly decent education in 80's movie culture. Star Wars will always be my favorite but Die Hard and The Princess Bride run really close."

Hermione was staring at him now as if she'd never seen him before.

"Who are you?" She tilted her head as if that would somehow change the view and then smiled playfully, "Seriously, you look like Draco Malfoy but-"

He silenced her with his mouth on hers and then there was no more talking for quite some time.

XXX

Severus Snape was... unsettled. There was something about that prophecy that was nagging at him. Something he thought he ought to know. He'd been racking his brain since last night, trying to figure out what was causing this feeling, to no avail. Whatever it was kept eluding him, circling just out of reach. He had taken the vial containing Narcissa's memory and watched it a hundred times and though no answer presented itself the feeling that he was missing something important would not let him go. He'd felt this particular brand of disquiet twice before. Once on the day of his graduation, and once on the day Lily died. He'd been unsuccessful in figuring out the cause of it on both of those occasions as well.

The day of his graduation he'd been overcome with the feeling that there was somewhere else he needed to be, something important he was supposed to be doing. He didn't sleep for days after. The strong feeling of loss, like nothing would ever be all right again now that he'd missed it, was almost crippling.

Adversely, on the day Lily died, when he by all rights should have felt a crippling sense of loss it did not come. There was sadness and anger but not to the extent one would expect. And there was something more. Some urgent need to search for something. As if Lily's death had reminded him how easily people could be taken from you and made him want to reach out for... someone. Which hadn't made any sense because there had never been anyone but Lily. They'd been friends half their lives and then sometime during their last year of school she'd become more to him. He didn't know exactly what had made him see her differently, he couldn't even pinpoint when it had started he just knew that what he felt was the stuff books were written of and songs were composed for. He remembered how shocked he'd been to discover that love was not an imaginary farce that the weak fell prey to and the smart used to their advantage. It was real and so strong it was almost tangible. He'd felt it wrapping around his soul in such a way as to change his entire world. He could still feel it now.

He blew out a frustrated breath as questions that had circled a thousand times beat at him. He doubted he would get any sleep tonight.

XXX

Ron Weasley was... unsettled. His view of the world had been shaken, quite violently, and he found himself seeing things he'd never noticed before and now could not ignore. Things like the bitter resignation hiding beneath the anger in some of the Slytherins' eyes when they were provoked into a conflict. Like they knew the role life had handed them and there was nothing they could do but play it. He'd seen it time and again over the past week. There were those like Nott who did everything in their power to incite anger and violence but there were plenty who were just minding their own business when they were set upon. Gryffindors in particular seemed to go out of their way to trip them, jostle them, or throw jinxes from around corners, not giving a thought to which Slytherin they hit as long as they got one. What did it matter when they were all evil, right? It made his guts churn to think that he would have gleefully joined in only a week ago. Now he found himself doing what he could to prevent it.

He knew without a doubt that no Slytherin would take any sort of open protection well so, while his first instinct was to shout at the perpetrators, he was trying to do it surreptitiously. He wasn't exactly the master of subtle but luckily for him neither were most of his classmates. He could tell from a mile off when one of them was planning something and it was easy enough to distract or redirect them. Pansy had said he couldn't fathom what it was like being the child of a Death Eater and she was right, but the glimpse of it she'd given him had branded his soul. He needed to do something to try to atone for the pain he'd added to people who were already buried in it. For the pain he'd caused her.

If unsettled described the way he was dealing with his new world view then bloody fucking unhinged was a good way to describe how he was dealing with the fact that he'd caught himself staring at Pansy Parkinson a good dozen times too many over the last few days. He shook himself, unwilling to delve into the reasons why he knew the exact shade of her eyes and that she had seven freckles scattered across her nose, and decided to head out to the lake. Some air would do him good, and if it didn't there was a bottle of firewhisky under his bed that might.

He turned a corner and surreptitious fell by the wayside.

Seamus Finnigan had Daphne Greengrass pressed up against the wall by her throat and his wand pointed at her temple.

"Seamus, what the bloody fuck are you doing?"

XXX

Pansy had been watching the confrontation between Finnigan and Daphne for a few minutes, having come upon it on her way out of the castle, wondering what the hell her friend was doing, and getting ready to put Finnigan down as for some unknown reason it seemed Daphne wasn't going to do it herself when Ron came around the corner. She steeled herself for what she thought was going to turn into a fight because for all his overgrown puppy clumsiness she'd seen him duel and he wasn't to be taken lightly.

"Seamus what the bloody fuck are you doing?"

She stopped, wand frozen in the midst of being raised, and melted back into the alcove behind her.

"Nothing that concerns you, Weasley, so just move along." Finnigan was seething.

"I would love to, just as soon as you let her go." Ron's words were pleasant enough but there was steel threaded through his tone. He wasn't going to back down.

"No! She's going to tell me where he is."

"What are you talking about?"

"They took my brother!" Finnigan's wand started shaking. "Last night there was an attack. A group of Death Eaters killed six muggles in his village and when my brother fought back they took him. And one of those Death Eaters was identified as _her fucking father_ so she's going to tell me what they did to him!"

"Merlin, Seamus, how would she possibly know that?"

"She knows! They all fucking know!"

"Oh and I suppose you know exactly where your father was last night then?"

'That's different."

"It's not," Ron shook his head sadly, "The only reason you think it is is because you're angry. Look at her Seamus, really look. She's not the enemy. Not unless you make her one."

Finnigan's jaw set in the way of a person who hears what you're saying but doesn't want to listen.

"Seamus," Ron's voice had gone steely again, "We've been mates for six years but I will do what I have to the stop this. As much for your sake as for hers. Let her go."

Finnigan glared for another moment and then released his hold on Daphne, turning sharply on his heel and storming away without another word.

Ron looked after him, an almost weary expression on his face, and then turned to Daphne.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Ron nodded in acknowledgment and then continued on his way out of the castle. Pansy watched him walk away, feeling like a foundation point of her existence had just crumbled beneath her.

She stepped out of the shadows just as Daphne approached her hiding place.

"What the hell was that, Daph?" She took a bit of satisfaction from the way her friend jumped. Apparently she hadn't lost her touch. "You could have taken Finnigan out in at least a dozen ways."

"Yes, but that would have defeated the whole point of letting him catch me in the first place."

"Which was?"

"I wanted to see what he'd do."

"You didn't have to let him catch you for that, Daph. Anyone within range to see his eyes could tell he planned to hurt you."

"Not Finnigan. Weasley."

Pansy started at that. "What?"

"I've been hearing some interesting things this week. Things about a certain Gryffindor intervening on our behalf. Apparently he thinks he's being subtle and I suppose for a Gryffindor he's a regular ninja but Slytherins have noticed. I wanted to see if it was true. Finnigan's been after me all day so I decided to give him a shot at me while Weasley was nearby. I don't know what happened to him but whatever it was seems to have tilted his axis quite dramatically."

Pansy was silent for a long moment, trying to wrap her head around the fact that _she_ was what had happened to him. For some reason that effected her more than she cared to think about.

XXX


	13. Chapter 13

**Harry Potter and all of its settings and characters belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

"Hang on, I have an idea!" Hermione ran from what they had dubbed their common room, leaving Draco to take out his frustration on one of the practice dummies.

It had been a week since they discovered this room and started in on Hermione's theory. In that time they had proven it in spades. Hermione could perform occlumency, legilimency, and every dark spell he knew, and he had discovered his Anamagus form. Growling at someone as Draco Malfoy was no where near as satisfying as doing it as a giant silver wolf. Potter had nearly jumped out of his skin.

What they hadn't been able to re create was the shield. They'd both tried dozens of times and it just would not come. His best tool in the fight to keep Hermione safe and he couldn't bloody call it. Needless to say, Draco was taking it badly.

Hermione came rushing back through the door, pulling Potter and Weasley behind her, just as he sent the last of a volley of fireballs crashing into the current practice dummy. It shuddered for a moment and then disintegrated.

Potter and Weasley eyed him warily but Hermione looked impressed. "That is so next on my list."

"Ok, no." Weasley said, "You're scary enough as it is."

"Speaking of scary," Potter cut in, "Why are we here exactly?"

"I need you to try to hurt me."

Potter looked between the charred remains of the dummy and the glowering expression on Draco's face. "Uh, no thanks. I value my skin."

Draco smirked at that and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Fine, try to hurt _him_."

Potter pulled his wand and shot a spell at Draco. Which bounced off Hermione's perfectly formed shield. She beamed at it before taking it down. "Again."

The time Weasley sent something at him, but it too was deflected. Hermione directed them to continue until she'd raised the shield half a dozen times.

"I think I've got it now." She motioned for Draco to take her hand as they'd discovered it was easier to share knowledge when they had contact. He felt for the part of her magic that was holding the shield and tugged on it, pulling it into himself and letting his magic absorb the spell. He brought her shield down and raised his own. It felt simple now, not at all the struggle it had been the past week.

He looked over at Potter and Weasley and inclined his head. "Thank you."

"For throwing hexes at you?" Potter grinned, "Anytime."

"Speaking of throwing things, where on earth did you learn how to throw fire?" Weasley prodded the pile of ashes with his toe.

"Severus taught me." Draco replied and Weasley blanched.

"Oh, yes, because that's a man who needs to be scarier."

"It's a spell he invented." Draco smirked.

"Of course it is."

XXX

At the mention of invented spells Hermione suddenly remembered about the one Luna had taught her. She'd been so distracted this week with Draco's rather admirable efforts to recreate every sinful dream she'd ever had, trying to remember how to act appropriately in public, and figuring out why the shield wasn't working that it had completely slipped her mind. But now was the perfect time to try it. The boys had started in on a conversation about the best offensive and defensive spells so she pulled her wand and pointed it at her eyes with a whispered, "Anam Aperio."

She blinked a few times as the colors settled and she smiled at the trail of scarlet that connected her to Draco. There was a shimmer to it of pale gold. She almost giggled as she thought of telling Draco his soul was Gryffindor colored. Ron's soul was a bright shamrock green which made her want to see the rest of the Weasleys. Would they all be shades of green or would they be completely different? What about the twins? Studying whether familial ties had any correlation to soul colors would be fascinating. She turned to Harry... and her blood ran cold.

Draco broke off mid sentence and his eyes snapped to hers with concern. "What's wrong?"

Harry and Ron both turned to stare at her so she forced her face to smooth into a neutral expression.

"Nothing." She tried a smile, "Forgot about an Arithmancy assignment I need to turn in tomorrow."

She could tell Draco wasn't buying it but Harry and Ron thankfully gave her an indulgent smile and jumped straight back into their conversation. Somehow she managed to portray a semblance of normality until they finally said goodnight, but as soon as her bedroom door closed she dropped the facade.

"I need to talk to Dumbledore." It was a struggle to keep her breathing even.

Draco was by her side immediately. "What is it?"

"Harry's-"

A knock on a door that hadn't existed a few moments ago interrupted and they both turned to stare at it. Hermione suspected she knew exactly who would be on the other side and though she felt a bit silly for it she whispered a quick, "Thank you" to what she had come to believe over the last week was the castle itself.

Before Draco could protest she flung open the door to reveal the sky blue soul and merrily smiling face of Albus Dumbledore.

"Well, I must say the castle has spectacularly outdone itself for you two. May I come in?"

Hermione stepped aside and saw the inside of Dumbledore's office before she shut the door after him.

"Remarkable," Dumbledore said as he took in their common room, "I'm assuming this appeared recently?"

"Yes," Draco replied, "I found it the night our bond was sealed. We suspect it works like the room of requirement. Just now Hermione said she needed to talk to you and then-"

"A door appeared in my office." Dumbledore finished, "Wondrous. Now, what was it you wished to speak to me about?"

Hermione stared at the man who they trusted to lead them, clutching tightly to the shreds of her faith in him and said, "Horcruxes."

The slight tensing around his eyes wrested those shreds from her grasp and sent them scattering to the winds.

He _knew._

"More specifically," she continued with a cold sort of anger twisting her insides, "the fact the Harry _is one_ and what exactly you plan to do about it."

The twinkle in his eyes faded, the chipper smile fell and for the first time since she'd met him he looked his age.

"You knew all this time," she accused, "I kept wondering why you seemed to be stalling the confrontation. We eliminated the fifth horcrux moths ago, everyone agreed the snake was the sixth and that we had to wait to take it out until the day of the battle. The longer we waited the greater the chance Voldemort would find out what we had done and yet you made no plans to move forward. It didn't make any sense. Until tonight when I used a fascinating spell Luna taught me that shows people's souls and saw a small bit of what I assume to be Voldemort's lurking just behind Harry's scar." She started to shake. "What were you planning to do? Stab him through the eye with a basilisk fang? Cleave his head open with the sword of Gryffindor? How precisely is this supposed to play out?"

"You are supposed to save him."

Hermione froze at that, staring up into Dumbledore's eyes as he continued. "I've spent the last year trying to find a way to destroy the horcrux without harming Harry and it simply did not exist. Until now. I began to suspect from the moment I saw Draco casually conjure magic that defied all known boundaries of what is possible and I became certain as soon as Madam Malfoy told me her prophecy. Both must fight or the Dark Lord will be victorious and _the Chosen One will be no more._ I do not believe this is in reference to Harry being slain in battle. I think it refers to the rather circular problem of Harry at this moment being absolutely unable to succeed in his task. If he remains an active horcrux he cannot defeat Voldemort and if he destroys the horcrux he will die. In either scenario the Chosen One is no more. I can not save him, Miss Granger, but I believe that you can." His face held a soft almost apologetic smile. "I wanted to give you more time to come into your power, to explore this new magic and learn what you are capable of so that when I heaped this problem on your shoulders you might already be equipped to solve it."

Hermione's head was spinning. Stopping it from doing so became her main concern for a few moments as head spinning was not a all conducive to deductive reasoning and she desperately needed some reason right now. She was supposed to solve a problem that Dumbledore himself had been working on for a year. It stood logically that all common magical means were out. If it were anything normal he would have found it by now. That left things unique to her because of the bond but what good could levitation, hair sparks, or a shield do? She needed to think, to clear her head, she needed-

She realized she'd been pacing as she broke off mid step and headed for the door that led to the Potions storeroom.

"Where are you going?" Draco's voice held more than a touch of concern.

"I need to brew something." She threw open the door without any thought of stealth or the fact that she didn't actually have any right to be in that room... and came face to face with Professor Snape.

If he was startled by her sudden appearance he didn't show it. She on the other hand let out a highly undignified squeak before being frozen in place by the fascinating display taking place in his chest.

His soul was like liquid mercury in a constant state of being poured. It was bright and scintillating and absolutely beautiful. But the truly captivating part was what could only be described as an ongoing battle between a lavender force that was settled around his heart and the black inky tendrils creeping up his arm from his dark mark. The darkness would push forward only to shrink away, regroup, and try again. Time and again the dark magic was repelled, unable to go further than his shoulder.

When he cleared his throat ominously she forced herself to meet his eyes but something in hers must have stopped him from unleashing the tirade he had to have been preparing.

"Professor," she whispered in awe, "who's protecting your soul?"

XXX


	14. Chapter 14

**Harry Potter and all of its settings and characters belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

It was hard to shake a man like Severus Snape but that soft exclamation did a fine job of it. After spending days searching to no avail he'd shoved down all the maddening feelings of something hovering just out of reach. That small phrase had them all flooding back. He found himself floundering for words, something he never did, and when he didn't answer she went back to staring into the vicinity of his heart at whatever seemed to be fascinating her.

"The darkness can't get close," she muttered, "It's like it's afraid."

He found his voice when she seemed to be about to reach out and touch him.

"Miss Granger," he pushed every ounce of his disquiet into an icy tone and she snapped to attention, "Have you taken leave of your senses?"

Her eyes widened and she now looked as unsettled as he felt.

"I'm sorry, sir, I needed to brew an Enlightening Elixir and the castle let me in but then I saw-"

She broke off as if unable or unwilling to put into words exactly what it was she'd seen. He ignored the fact that she'd just appeared through a solid wall and had implicated the castle in enabling her propensity for the theft of his ingredients.

"You saw what?" He needed this answer, somehow he knew it would lead him to the source of his disquiet.

"I saw your soul."

He wasn't quite sure what to do with that.

She opened her mouth to continue but froze and turned her head as if she'd heard something. When her eyes hit the back wall of the store room she let out a soft, "Oh!" and reached out her hand.

He watched in startled fascination as the wall suddenly became a door that she pushed open to reveal a concerned looking Albus and a slightly frantic looking Draco standing in what looked to be a large common room.

Hermione walked straight to Draco who's eyes lit up with relief at the sight of her. He pulled her into his arms and she tucked herself in against him, as if knowing he needed the comfort of the contact.

"You screamed and then the bloody door disappeared." Draco said into her hair and Snape felt a familiar pang in his chest.

Hermione curled in tighter. "I'm sorry. Seeing Professor Snape startled me and I didn't notice the door."

Snape knew from experience that unless pulled from the dark space Draco was currently swimming in it would linger.

"Miss Granger, if you are going to go about spying on my soul and pilfering my ingredients I believe you should call me Severus."

XXX

Hermione felt the tightness in Draco's chest ease and she sent a small smile of gratitude in Snape's direction as she pulled away. "Then in fairness I believe you should call me Hermione."

Snape nodded in acknowledgement and Draco's lips tiled into a smile.

"So what does Severus's soul look like?"

"It's-" she stopped her self from saying 'beautiful' as she didn't think he'd appreciate it, and went with, "silver."

"Dumbledore's?"

"Sky blue." Dumbledore looked delighted by the information.

"And mine?"

"Scarlet," her smile grew wide as he scrunched up his face, "with a dusting of gold."

"Oh now that's just insulting," he feigned outrage, "a Gryffindor colored soul? What color is yours?"

"Yours and mine are identical."

Both his eyebrows shot up at that and she could tell he was trying to disguise how much that pleased him. "Well, I guess that's all right then."

She laughed at that and then it was her turn to scrunch up her face as she remembered something else she'd forgotten about. "I guess now might be a good time to tell you that Luna knows our secret."

His eyes went wide. "You told her?"

"Of course not! She knew before we did. Honestly she's probably known since her first year. The reason I even know the spell at all is because after she walked up and announced how glad she was that we finally found each other and I almost had a heart attack, she explained how she noticed that our souls were the same because she did the spell every morning before breakfast so she could look at all the colors." She turned to Snape, "She says yours is her favorite, by the way."

Snape's lips twitched. "You mean to tell me that all the times I've caught that daft girl staring at me she's actually been staring at my soul?"

"Just so. And having seen it myself now I can see why."

"Yes, I think you were about to explain that to me."

Hermione chose her words carefully as she had a feeling the implications of what she'd seen were deeply personal. "Well, your soul by itself is quite noteworthy but what's really interesting is that there's something blocking the magic that's coming out of your dark mark. It keeps trying to push its way in but it can't get past your shoulder."

"You see, Severus?" Dumbledore was beaming, "I told you, didn't I?"

"He told you what?"

"Albus seems to think he knows what has been protecting me from the usual effects of my mark. Most Death Eaters can be taken over like puppets when Voldemort has a mind to be particularly vicious but he's never been able to control me. He wrote it off as an innate talent and luckily for me he saw it as an asset to have a follower that could not be controlled instead of a threat. He reasoned that if he was unable to do it then at least no one else could either."

"What does Professor Dumbledore think it is?" It seemed more appropriate to aim that question at Snape as it was his soul and he should be the one to decide if he wanted to share it. From Dumbledore's silence it seemed he agreed.

"I was in love once," Snape finally answered and she found herself holding her breath to see if he would elaborate, "A long time ago. Voldemort murdered her. Albus thinks that my love for her is what keeps him from getting in."

She felt compelled to set them straight but if she'd been careful with her words before, now she was downright fastidious. He had revealed something achingly personal about himself for the purpose of furthering their information and his tone strongly implied that emotional responses would not be tolerated. She could not let him see anything of the sorrow she felt for him or he would shut down so fast her head would spin so instead she stuck to the point at hand.

"That is a logical theory considering what happened to Harry at the ministry, it's just not correct in this case."

Dumbledore quirked his head at her in question. "How do you know?"

This is where it would get dicey. "Because it's not _his_ magic that's protecting him."

XXX

Snape went perfectly still at that as again he was struck with the absolute certainty that this was somehow what he had wanted to know all along.

"If it was his magic it would be the same color as his soul, because that's where our magic comes from. That's why the sparks that shoot from my hair are red and the fireballs Draco throws are the same. I suspect when you do that spell your fire looks like liquid mercury?" At his nod she continued, "That's what your soul looks like. The magic blocking the darkness is a completely different color."

His brain scrambled to find the words for what he wanted to ask without giving anything away but Albus seemed to know exactly what he needed.

"Is it like the way Harry's mother's magic is protecting him?"

"No, this is different. Lily's magic is everywhere, running through Harry's veins. It's a sort of sparkling champagne color and it's very faint." She turned to face him, "What's protecting you is bright, extremely so, and it's all concentrated in the one spot where Voldemort's magic is trying to break through. It's like whoever cast it knew exactly what you would need protection from."

Facts were assembling themselves in his brain like pieces of a distorted jigsaw puzzle. Not enough to form a picture but enough to at least give him better questions than 'What am I missing?'.

"What color is it?" He already knew it wasn't Lily, but for the sake of all these years of doubts and feelings that didn't add up he needed her to say it.

"Lavender. The way a field of it looks in the sun."

XXX

Three hours and seven shots of firewhisky later Snape sat staring into his fireplace contemplating what he knew. Someone was protecting him. Someone who knew his secret at a time when he had told no one. Someone who cared enough about him to put an enormous amount of power into his protection.

Someone he had absolutely no knowledge of at all.

That seemed so unlikely as to be laughable. The only explanation for it was that he, he himself, the greatest practitioner of mind magic in existence, had been obliviated.

And if his theory held there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

Most people did not know that there was more than one method of obliviation. This was due to the fact that he did not tell them. The commonly known and used method involved obscuring the selected memory and, if you were skilled enough, altering it so as to avoid suspicion. This was the method he had used on Miss Granger. The second method was a bit more extreme. It removed the memory completely so that even if the victim somehow did suspect they had been obliviated and tried the memory restoration spell there wasn't anything there to be recovered. The only way to get them back was for the person who took them to return them. Assuming they hadn't destroyed them.

Someone who had known him well enough to know he was planning to infiltrate the Dark Lord's ranks would surely know that he had invented this method.

And it would seem they had used it against him.

This person who was even now keeping him from being overrun with dark magic.

This person who, he grew more sure with each shot, had been the love of his life.

Being in love with Lily had always confused him. Why would he suddenly fall in love with a girl who he'd looked on as a sister and who hadn't spoken to him in years? It hadn't made any sense but there was no denying the love he felt and who else was there?

Who else was there? That was always the argument he used on his imagination when it reminded him that he never dreamed of Lily or on his jealousy when it reminded him he didn't feel at all inclined to dismember Potter for touching her.

Now it was the question of the night. Who else was there?

XXX


	15. Chapter 15

**Harry Potter and all of its settings and characters belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

Hermione was... frustrated was too tame a word. She could throw fireballs, she could levitate to the ceiling, she could use her shield to render herself invisible, she could block magic entirely subject to her whim letting some through and not others, she could jump off a broomstick and stop herself from hitting the ground with a thought, she could do numerous incredible things... but she could not save Harry.

Two weeks. Two weeks she had been carrying this secret around trying not to let him see her worry, spending half the night every night trying to find an ability that would let her do something... and failing.

She had started out this evening genuinely practicing her spells but by this point she was consumed with the need to let out her frustration with the world and was shouting, "Flacari!" again and again, hurling fireballs at all four current practice dummies until they were reduced to ashes.

"Feel better?"

Hermione whirled around to find Draco leaning against the doorframe and a sheepish sort of smile crept across her face. "A little. It helps when I put faces on them."

Draco laughed and walked over to curl his arms around her waist. "Yes, I have noticed that."

Hermione linked her arms behind his neck and a wicked gleam entered her eyes as she looked up at him. "I'd like to see Nott take my wand now. I think I'd actually let him just to see the look on his face when I fry him without it."

Draco tilted his head at her. "Hang on, Nott took your wand?"

"That night in the dungeons he had it before I even knew they were there. That's how they got hold of me in the first place."

"How did you get it back?"

Now it was her turn to tilt her head at him. "I thought you did it."

He shook his head. "I didn't even know he had it. I thought they'd just pinned your arms so you couldn't get to it."

"No, Nott disarmed me and put it in his pocket but by the time I woke up on Snape's couch it was back in my arm holster. If you didn't do it then who did?"

"That adds an interesting facet to something that occurred to me a few days ago. How did Potter and Weasley know about my 'plans' for you? The only people who were told about that were the ones on the short list for intended Death Eater."

"It appears someone else is not really what they seem."

"It does. And I would very much like to find out who."

Hermione started to say that she would go ask Harry and Ron who'd told them when Draco frowned and started looking around the room.

"What is it?"

"There are too many doors again."

Hermione turned just as Pansy Parkinson came creeping through one of the new ones wrapped tightly in a towel with her wand in a defensive position, and Blaise Zabini came bursting through another in his pajamas in attack mode.

XXX

Pansy had been in the bath, minding her own business, trying to understand why she couldn't stop Ron bloody Weasley from being a constant figure in her brain of late, when the door appeared. An internal debate had raged as to whether she should open it or ignore it and at this very moment she heartily wished she'd chosen the latter.

The first thing that gained her attention as she cautiously entered the room was a very entwined Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, followed closely by the barreling entrance of Blaise Zabini.

All parties seemed frozen in a state of shock for a moment trying to process what they were seeing.

Pansy glanced at Blaise and saw by the look in his eyes that he'd come to the same conclusion as she had for the most likely reason Granger would be clinging to Malfoy in such a way. Whether it was love potion or the Imperius curse she didn't know but it was obvious he'd done something to the Gryffindor witch. She also saw the moment he decided to do something about it.

"Blaise, don't." Pansy warned but it was too late. He'd set his jaw and leveled his wand directly at Malfoy.

"I have to." His voice was quiet but full of determination and Pansy readied herself to be in the middle of a very dangerous fight. But it was a fight that never came.

Two voices came from the corner simultaneously startling all four combatants.

Potter's shout of, "What the hell is going on in here?" was almost drowned out by Ron's, "Don't hit Parkinson!"

Pansy took advantage of the interruption to aim a disarming spell at Malfoy... only to have it hit some sort of barrier about a foot from her wand. She backed up thinking to retreat and her shoulders hit what felt like a wall. Frantically she spun around and saw the faint glimmer of magic completely surrounding her. She looked around the room and saw Blaise, Potter, and Ron all similarly encased in magic bubbles and Granger standing with her hands outstretched and looking a bit surprised.

"Damn it, Granger, let me out of here." Pansy growled.

"Sorry," Hermione replied, "I wanted to shield us but I wasn't entirely sure who need to be shielded from whom so this is what came out."

"Then why the hell isn't Malfoy in one of these?"

"Because he's-" Potter started but Malfoy cut him off with a sharp, "Don't!" and for some reason Potter obeyed.

Then a conversation took place that made absolutely no sense to Pansy but seemed to enlighten Malfoy immensely.

"Draco," Hermione put her hand on his arm and Pansy started when she saw him visibly soften, "Remember when I said I needed to talk to Dumbledore?"

"And a door appeared," he replied with an air of revelation, "Well then. It seems the castle provided the answer to our question."

What he said next made Pansy's blood run cold.

Malfoy turned and pointed to Blaise, "You returned Hermione's wand to her the night Nott attacked her," then he rounded on her, "And you warned Potter and Weasley about my plans."

Pansy was still trying to find some way around this when she heard Blaise defiantly declare, "Yes, I did. My only regret is that I didn't try harder to help her escape. I don't know what you've done to her but I'm telling you now I won't stand by anymore. I'd rather die than let myself be destroyed from the inside."

"Damn it, Blaise, what house are you from?" Pansy was livid, "Granger, who is either under a love potion or the Imperius, has us completely pinned down and you pick now to make a dramatic declaration?" she turned her frustration on Ron, "And you! I risk my neck to warn you about him and you go and leave him alone with her? I swear if I die today I'm haunting both of you."

Malfoy smiled then and she was taken aback by the fact that it looked genuine.

"No one's dying today. I think a vow of secrecy should suffice. We have a lot to talk about."

XXX

Ron sat at the table that had magically grown to accommodate them all, sipping the tea Hermione had made, and trying very very hard to keep his mind focused on the important topics at hand. He was failing miserably. Having been completely unable to keep his eyes from straying to every inch of Pansy's exposed skin he'd noticed right off that it was covered in goosebumps so he'd offered her his robe. Now the idea of her completely naked under _his_ clothing was proving infinitely more appealing to him than anything he had ever encountered.

 _This is madness. Complete idiocy. Letting yourself get attached to Pansy Parkinson is akin to ripping out your own heart and stomping on it a few times before setting it on fire._

He'd been repeating that line for weeks and it didn't look like tonight was going to garner any different effect. He was so screwed.

XXX

Pansy sat next to Harry Potter, wearing Ron Weasley's robe, drinking tea that had been made for her by Hermione Granger, and listening to Draco Malfoy explain that he was really a spy for the Order of the Pheonix and that soul bonds were not fictional. She was trying to wrap her mind around what Malfoy was saying but it was like someone telling you that Satan is really a rather decent fellow and oh yah, by the way, Santa Claus is real. This was by far the strangest day she'd ever experienced. She wrapped herself tighter in Ron's robe, taking comfort from it in a way she absolutely refused to analyze, and spoke for the first time since they'd sat down.

"Why are you telling us all this?"

The look Malfoy gave her was grave. "Because I want you to have all the information before you make your choice."

"What choice?"

"The choice between being bound to secrecy with an unbreakable vow and having me erase the last hour from your memory."

Blaise immediately jumped in. "I'll take the vow. I want to help."

Pansy wanted nothing more than to have chosen to ignore that damn door but for some reason she was averse to having the last hour taken from her. She glanced over at Ron and was struck by the thought that that look in his eyes, the one he'd been giving her since he first walked in and kept trying to hide, the one that said she was somehow important to him was a large part of that reason.

 _Stupid, sentimental nonsense. Allowing yourself to become attached to Ron Weasley is at best masochistic and at worst deadly._

The mental berating did little to reign in her rioting emotions. She sighed as she came to the realization that she was well and truly screwed.

XXX


	16. Chapter 16

**Harry Potter and all of its settings and characters belong to JK Rowling.**

XXX

Three days later the castle was mostly empty as the majority of students and staff had gone home for the Easter holiday. Draco sat watching Hermione's fitful sleep and crushed the letter he'd just received in his fist. He wanted to hide it from her. To take care of it himself instead of adding to her worries with a problem that they would undoubtedly argue about how to deal with. But he'd made a promise to her and he intended to keep it. Tomorrow. Restless as it looked he would not interrupt the little sleep she was managing. A moment later she sat bolt upright in bed and the letter was quickly pushed from his mind.

"I have an idea!"

She tossed her legs out from under the covers and dressed herself with a hasty spell as she headed for the door. He followed closely behind listening to her mutter to herself about shield bubbles and curses and stopped her before she opened the door leading out into the Slytherin common room.

"I'm eager to learn what has you so excited but I think walking out that particular door might put a damper on the evening. My house has an alarming rate of insomnia and a loose curfew as long as we stay inside Slytherin boundaries."

Her eyes focused for the first time since she'd woken and she pulled her hand back sharply.

"Sorry. I forgot where I was."

"Care to tell me where we're going?" He said as he pulled on a shirt and followed her through the correct door.

"Grimmauld Place. I need something cursed to practice on." She replied as she practically flew through their common room to her bedroom.

"Practice what on?"

"The shield." Her eyes lit up and she bit her lip. "Draco, I think I know how to save Harry."

XXX

"I'm a _what_?"

"You're a horcrux, Harry."

Dumbledore's office had never been quite so silent before and Hermione rushed to continue, "But I can fix it."

Harry, now fully awake, blinked at her, "Judging by your level of enthusiasm I'm hoping the plan doesn't involve stabbing a basilisk fang through my eye."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I think she's saving that for her backup plan."

Hermione elbowed him. "No one's stabbing anybody."

Harry's gaze went to the sword of Gryffindor sitting on Dumbledore's desk.

"That's for after I make the transfer."

"Why don't you explain your plan, Miss Granger." Dumbledore smiled kindly.

"I'm going to pull the piece of Voldemort's soul out of you and put it in this music box."

"You're going to-" Harry trailed off as if not really comprehending what she was saying and so instead decided to grasp onto something easier to take in, "Hang on, isn't that the cursed music box no one could remove from Mrs. Black's old room?"

"It was. It occurred to me that I could use my shield to trap magic _in_ just as easily as I could keep magic _out_ and in that line of thinking I could potentially surround any harmful magic and cut it off from its intent. I tested my theory earlier this morning when I used my shield to isolate the curse, remove it from the box and then crush it."

"You crushed a seventy five year old curse?"

"Yes, but I doubt that will work with a horcrux so I'm just going to change the vessel to something we don't mind stabbing."

Harry stared at her for a moment. "Have I told you lately that I'm really glad you're on our side?"  
She smiled, "Yes, well, lucky for you the other side wouldn't have me."

XXX

Pansy felt pain exploding across the side of her face from where her father's hand had just connected and as she fell to the ground all she could think was, _It's not supposed to be now._

She thought she'd had more time. She thought surely he wouldn't make any arrangements until after graduation.

She'd been wrong.

And the shock of hearing the news of her betrothal coupled with the announcement that the wedding would take place before the end of the week had a denial slipping from her lips before she could stop it.

"No?" Her father's voice shook with rage and she could smell alcohol practically seeping from his pores as he pulled her up by her hair, "You think to defy me? Bring the Dark Lord's wrath down on me?" He hit her again and stars danced before her eyes.

"It's obviously been too long-"

Hit.

"-since I've taught you-"

Hit.

"-a lesson in obedience."

Her arm shot up and blocked his last blow as something in her that had long been broken suddenly snapped back into place.

This man had hit her for the last time.

There was no more need to scrape and beg for forgiveness to placate his temper. Fighting back now would not mean extended torment later. She'd always planned to escape but the method had centered around simply not getting on the train after graduation. The prospect of being married off to a Death Eater by the end of the week considerably upped the time table. She was leaving. Now.

His eyes widened in shock as he stared at her, not quite comprehending the concept of his weak, frightened daughter fighting back. Frightened she may be, but weak? She'd taken great lengths over the years to make damn sure that once she had her freedom no one would ever be able to take it from her again. Even woozy she had no problem disarming him and leaving him petrified on the floor.

She stared down at him for a moment, this man who had defined her childhood in levels of fear, opened her mouth to speak... and then turned on her heel and walked from the room without a backward glance. She would not give him even one more moment of her life. She gathered some of her things and the money she'd been saving since the day her sister died and then she walked out of her house for the very last time.

Halfway down the path she started to shake and feel a bit dizzy. By the time she reached the gate tears were clouding her vision and she was losing control of her breathing. It seemed her supply of adrenaline was abandoning her and both her body and her emotions were reminding her of their injuries. She needed somewhere to regroup before she set off. Somewhere she could be safe. Somewhere that would help restore her faith in the world. Suddenly she knew exactly where she needed to be. It was insane but she was tired and broken and somehow she felt if she could just see it once, to prove it was real, then she could go on. She would just look in. No one would even know she was there.

Before she could talk herself out of it she turned on the spot and apparated.

XXX

Ron narrowed his eyes at the window over the kitchen sink as he caught an edge of a shadow for the third time. He set down his spoon, dodged a glob of pie Fred hurled in his direction when Mum had turned to scold George for putting his elbows on the table, and stood up. He was careful to keep his eyes off the window as he started grabbing plates.

"It's Fred's turn for dishes, dear." His mother called as he turned toward the sink.

"Right," he said absently as he deposited the stack of plates and casually let his gaze flit about the porch, "I forgot." He caught a glimpse of movement, like a limb being tucked into the shadows directly below the window sill. "I'll just take the trash out then." He grabbed the bag, ignoring the strange look his mother was giving him, and palmed his wand as he headed out the back door.

As soon as the door shut he dropped the bag and pointed his wand into the dark space beneath the window.

"Come out of there, very slowly, and explain what you are doing lurking around my kitchen." He put every ounce of coercion he had into his tone and hoped it wasn't being wasted on a gnome or a stray cat. The shadows started to stir and what came out of them would edge into his nightmares for the rest of his life.

Pansy Parkinson stood on unsteady feet with her eye swollen shut, her lip split open, and blood dried into her shirt. He didn't think an image had ever effected him quite so viscerally.

"I'm sorry," she said before he could speak and then started backing towards the steps, "I didn't mean for anyone to see me. I'll go now."

He moved to block her path and stayed close as she looked like she was about to collapse.

"The only place you're going is inside so I can patch you up and you can tell me who did this to you."

She shook her head. "I'm fine, really I have to go. I shouldn't have come but I just-" Her voice grew thready and her steps faltered. He reached out just in time to keep her from tumbling to the ground. She looked up at him with a slightly unfocused expression. "I just needed to see it once, how it's supposed to be."

"See what?"

His heart clenched as a tear escaped her good eye and then tore wide open as she whispered, "A family."

He scooped her up into his arms just as she lost the battle to stay conscious and as he carried her into the house he contemplated murder.

XXX

Pansy woke free from pain and in a bed that smelled like every batch of Amortentia she'd ever brewed. She made a sleepy mental note to ask the inn keeper what they used on the sheets and snuggled in to drift back off. She had almost managed it when she suddenly shot bolt upright, her eyes scanning the room with the hope that what she saw would prove the memory that had just crashed into her false.

It didn't.

Everything from the lurid orange Chudley Cannons decor to the Gryffindor tie sitting on top the nearest pile of men's clothing gave credit to the idea that she had actually passed out in Ron Weasley's arms after confessing that she'd been spying on his family.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

She had to leave, right now before she had to face any melted chocolate eyes filled with pity. The ones that met her as she pulled open the door were not the ones she expected. Molly Weasley stood with a tray of breakfast in her arms and a kindness in her smile that made Pansy feel more in danger of breaking than anything ever had.

"Oh good, you're awake!" Mrs. Weasley bustled into the room and set the tray on the night stand while Pansy was still trying to gain her balance, "Now maybe my son will stop terrorizing the household. Come here let me look at you."

Pansy found herself standing still while she was examined instead of making her escape and she hadn't the slightest clue why.

"How do you feel? Any lingering dizziness?"

"No, I feel perfectly healed, thank you."

"Yes, well, raising six quidditch players will give you quite a bit of experience healing concussions."

Pansy tensed, waiting for the interrogation that was surely coming.

"Now, then, before I go let Ron know he can stop wearing holes in the rug I want to tell you that you are welcome here as long as you want to stay."

Pansy blinked. Mrs. Weasley just smiled and turned to leave.

"Why?" Pansy's voice came out choked despite her best effort.

"Everyone is entitled to a safe place to exist. It seems to me that you think leaving is the only way to find one," she gestured towards the bag by the bed, "I want you to know that you have another choice."

Pansy was completely out of her depths in this conversation.

"You're offering me a place in your home without knowing anything about me? Without any explanation or information about what kind of trouble I could be bringing with me?"

"My dear, you could bring Voldemort himself down on this house and you would still be welcome in it. Your story is yours to keep or tell. I hope one day you might share it with me but I knew everything I needed to know about you as soon as I saw the way my son looked at you." Mrs. Weasley gave her another kind smile and then she was gone.

Pansy's legs didn't seem to want to support her anymore and she sat down hard on the bed that smelled like everything she'd ever wanted. She had to leave. That fact was clear. She absolutely could not stay here.

Because she wanted to so badly it hurt.

She grabbed her bag and was wondering if it was even possible to get downstairs without being seen or if she should attempt to climb out the window when Ron appeared in the doorway.

They stared at each other for a moment and it felt like gravity was stronger than it should be. Pansy tried to speak, to thank him for his help and tell him she had to leave but the words were stuck in her throat. It was Ron who finally broke the silence.

"Will you tell me what happened?"

She was caught off guard by the tentative note of his request and found herself answering.

He seemed almost to be swallowing the information like he was very carefully keeping himself from blowing apart.

"Will you stay?" Again with the gentleness. She could see him visibly reigning in whatever he was feeling.

"I can't. And quit doing that."

"What?"

"Talking to me with a forced gentle calm like I might shatter if you talk too loud. I'm not afraid of you."

The sound he made then could have almost been called a laugh if it wasn't so seeped in angst. "Well that makes one of us."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've been up all night trying to get ahold of myself, trying to reset whatever broke open inside me when you fell into my arms covered in bruises and blood, trying to get back the certainty that killing someone, no matter what they've done, is wrong. And I can't do it. I know in my guts that if your father were standing here now I wouldn't hesitate. And that scares the shit out of me."

Pansy stared at him for a moment, this man who smelled like happiness and had just pledged murder in her honor, and then she walked into his arms. She tucked her face into the side of his neck and he held her while she let herself break. When the tears finally stopped she wasn't afraid anymore.

"Stay with me." It was a plea whispered into her hair and she no longer had any reason to deny it. Wanting him, wanting this place had terrified her because all her life anything she'd ever wanted, anything that she'd shown affection for had been used as a weapon against her. She'd learned not to want anything, not to care for anything and that wasn't how she wanted to live. Leaving now would be letting her father continue to control her life and she refused to allow that. She didn't want to start over in a strange place where she'd have to lie about who she was and always be looking over her shoulder. She wanted to finish school and make something of herself. She wanted to finally be able to stand and openly defy everything she'd had to pretend to believe in.

She would stay. And gods help him if he came around here trying to make trouble for these people. She'd kill him herself.

XXX


End file.
